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The Case of Korea 



By. 

Henry Chung, A. M., Ph. D. 

Member Korean Commisnon to America 
and Europe. 

The Case of Korea 

A Collection of Evidence on the Japanese Domina- 
tion of Korea and the Development of the Korean 
Independence Movement. Illustrated, cloth, ^3.00 

Senator Selden P. Spencer says : " The history of 
this book is illuminating and thrilling. It.deserves 
and demands attention. . . . How Japan secured 
control of Korea and became her • protector ' and 
diplomatic spokesman, and how later Japan com- 
pletely annexed Korea, and how the Korean people 
proclaimed the independence of the Korean Re- 
public, are graphically recited in a manner that in- 
dicates both historic accuracy and statesmanlike 
impartiality." 

The Oriental Policy of the 
United States 

With Introduction by Prof, Jeremiah W. Jenks, Di- 
rector of Far Eastern Bureau, New York Univer- 
sity. With Maps ;?2.oo net 

Literary Digest says : " A body of testimony that 
provides the means of forming an incontestable judg- 
ment respecting the most menacing conditions in 
the Far East. This is a very rare case of a book 
pat to the minute, historical, expository, and docu- 
mentary." 



The Case of Korea 



A Collection of Evidence on the Japanese 
Domination of Korea, and on the Devel- 
opment of the Korean Independence 
. Movement 



By 
HENRY CHUNG, A. M., Ph. D. 

Member of Korean Commission to America 
and Europe 

Author of "The. Oriental Policy of the United States,' 
"Korean Treaties,'' etc. 



With Foreword by 

HON. SELDEN P. SPENCER 

U. S, Senator from Missouri 




New York Chicago 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 



Copyright, 1921, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 



Mr 6 



New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London : 2 1 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 

juL2r2r 

©CLA617707 



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To the memory of those 
BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN 

who suffered martyrdom in the national 

m,ovement of 1919 that Korea might 

have restored independence this volume 

is respectfully inscribed 



There is blood that is silent and blood that 
cries aloud : The blood of the battle-fields 
is drunk in secret by the earth ; the peace- 
ful blood that is shed rises moaning toward 
the heavens : God receives and avenges it. 

— Chateaubriand. 



Foreword 

By Hon. Selden P. Spencer, 
U. S. Senator from Missouri. 

AMERICANS want facts. Justice is not 
founded upon mere emotion or sentimental 
enthusiasm. Right follows truth, sometimes 
slowly, but always eventually. 

The history of this book is illuminating and thrill- 
ing. It is well worth the thoughtful consideration of 
all Americans. It deserves and demands attention. 

Korea, the historic patriarch of the world, — more 
than four thousand years old when the United States 
was born — ^has a particular appeal to the conscience 
and heart of our country. 

On June 4, 1883, there was proclaimed a " Treaty 
of Peace and Amity and Commerce and Navigation " 
between the United States of America and the King- 
dom of Korea or " Chosen," which had been agreed to 
by the representatives of the respective Governments 
on May 22, 1882, and was formally ratified by the 
President of the United States (President Arthur) on 



8 FOKEWOED 

February 13, 1883, after its approval by the Senate of 
the United States on January 9, 1883. 

This Treaty inter alia provided: 

" There shall be perpetual peace and friendship be- 
tween the President of the United States and the King 
of Chosen and the citizens and subjects of their re- 
spective Governments. // other powers deal unjustly 
or oppressively with either Government, the other will 
exert their good offices, on being informed of the case, 
to bring about an amicable arrangement, thus showing 
their friendly feelings." (Italics mine.) 

This Treaty gave to Korea a " big boy " friend upon 
whose strength and justice the twenty millions (pres- 
ent population) of Koreans instantly relied with a 
confidence that was pathetic in its intensity and devo- 
tion. 

The " Hermit Kingdom " had lifted the latch and at 
once opened the door in welcome to the world. Other 
treaties followed, but the Treaty with the United 
States was the first. 

We built the first railroad, the first electric light 
plant, the first water works in Korea ; we constructed 
the first large Korean steamboats, we equipped her 
mines with modern machinery. 

Korea, both in spirit and in letter, lived up to her 
Treaty agreement, though, as a matter of fact, it en- 
tirely transformed her custom in regard to foreigners 



FOEEWOED 9 

— a custom which had been estabHshed for decades of 
centuries. 

The Korean people never changed this Treaty. It 
was and it is now their star of hope. Neither their 
Emperor nor their Prime Minister ever consented to 
its abrogation. Whatever may be the diplomatic 
situation of to-day, this fact cannot be morally over- 
looked. 

How Japan secured control of Korea and in 1905 
became the " protector " and diplomatic spokesman for 
these intelligent and independent people, and how later 
Japan completely annexed Korea and made of it a 
province, and how the Korean people proclaimed the 
independence of the Korean Republic, are graphically 
recited — from the standpoint of Korea — in a manner 
that indicates both historic accuracy and statesmanlike 
impartiality. 

No nation on earth can indefinitely mistreat those 
over whom it happens for a time to have control. 

There is a world public opinion that in the last an- 
alysis is absolutely controlling. This opinion may be 
slow in forming, but woe be to that nation whose con- 
duct is such as to bring upon it the anathema of world 
condemnation. It would be better for that nation if a 
millstone were hanged about its neck and that it were 
drowned in the depth of the sea. 

Propaganda skillfully directed, vigorously promul- 



10 FOEEWOED 

gated, may temporarily deceive, but In God's own time 
the truth shines through the parted clouds and in- 
stantly the world recognizes the fact. 

I commend this book to the careful thoughts of my 
fellow Americans. Its record of diplomafic and cur- 
rent events places upon Japan the burden. of explana- 
tion — a burden which no Government ought either to 
hesitate or refuse to instantly assume before the judg- 
ment bar of the world. 

Civilization demands the truth — the whole truth and 
nothing but the truth — and no part of the civilized 
world ought to be more insistent for it, either from the 
standpoint of history or justice or Its own honor, than 

the American people. 

Selden p. Spencer. 
Senate Office Building, 
Washington, D. C. 



Preface 

THE world is full of tragedy, and the con- 
science of mankind is already overburdened 
with the groans of suffering humanity. But 
the greatest of national tragedies to-day is little known 
to the civilized world. And that is the case of Korea. 
We have wept over Armenia and Belgium, but from 
neither of these lands does international injustice cry 
more loudly than from the little Hermit Kingdom of 
the Far East. 

To the unsuspecting Western peoples, kept Ignorant 
by the Japanese Government of conditions in Korea, 
the Independence Movement of 1919 and Japanese 
atrocities in connection with it came as a surprise. 
But the spirit of nationalism, as exhibited by the 
Koreans in 1919, is simply a blaze from the smoulder- 
ing fire that is and has been burning ever since Japan 
usurped Korea. The atrocities committed by Japa- 
nese are nothing more than a part of the system that 
has operated since the protectorate was established in 
1906. 

As to Korea's right to self-determination, no fair- 
minded man would raise a question. Of all the na- 
tions that obtained their independence after the World 

11 



12 PEEFACE 

War, none has a better title to freedom than Korea. 
The Korean race is, perhaps, the most homogeneous in 
the world. Their history extends back some four 
thousand years. They have a civilization as great as 
China's in many ways, and greater than Japan's in 
most. During the long years of their independent 
existence, they have created a literature, an art, and 
culture of their own. In short, they constitute a 
nation in every ethnic, historical and cultural sense of 
the word. And to-day the whole nation is united in 
asserting its right to determine its own destiny accord- 
ing to its own will and choice. 

Japan advances many arguments to justify her 
domination of Korea. They are (1) self-defense, (3) 
necessity for colonization, (3) benevolent motive to 
aid Korea. But none of these stands the test of close 
investigation and international justice. 

"An independent Korea, liable to become a possible 
strategic foothold for a hostile, powerful foe, would 
be dangerous for Japan," argue the Japanese states- 
men; therefore, Japan must hold Korea for self-de- 
fense. But who would take Korea in case Japan re- 
leases her? The danger of Russian aggression or 
Chinese " imperialism " is out of the question. The 
only nation that has a direct interest in that part of the 
Orient, outside of Russia and China, is the United 
States. Would it be possible for the United States 
to take possession of Korea by force of arms, as soon 
as Japan releases her, for the purpose of imperial ag- 
grandizement ? That question can be left to the judg- 
ment of the reader. 



PEEFACE 13 

The pretext that Japan must have Korea for col- 
onization is equally flimsy. Korea is already densely 
populated, and the Korean farmer cultivates the soil 
intensively. Furthermore, if the industry and capital 
now applied by Japan to foreign aggression were used 
instead for internal development, room for surplus 
population could be found within Japan proper. Hok- 
kaido (northern Japan) and the southern half of Sag- 
halien Island, though no further north than the states 
of Oregon and Washington, are sparsely settled. Ac- 
cording to the Japan Year Book for 1918-19, a semi- 
official publication edited by Japanese, these regions 
have unexcelled climate and soil and are rich in fish- 
eries and mineral resources. The area of these partly 
developed districts of Japan is about 49,000 square 
miles. This is over four times the size of Belgium, 
and yet Belgium has a population of seven and a half 
millions, which is five times as great as the combined 
population of Hokkaido and the southern half of 
Saghalien. 

The three hundred thousand Japanese, who are In 
Korea, came there as exploiters, not as immigrants. 
The tens of thousands of acres now in Japanese pos- 
session were the best watered and cultivated lands 
when taken over by the Government. The loudly 
advertised claim that Japanese settlers in Korea are re- 
claiming waste regions or improving uncultivated soil 
is nothing more than a smoke screen to cover the ille- 
gitimate methods employed by the Government to 
deprive the Koreans of their land. Korea has proved 
a fertile field for Japanese grafters and land-grabbers, 



14 PEEFACE 

but as an outlet for colonization on an honest basis, it 
has proved of no value to the Japanese Empire. The 
Japanese are no pioneers ; they do not have the spirit 
of enterprise and adventure. They only take over, by 
underhanded methods, what other people have accom- 
plished. As a field for surplus population, without 
illegitimate exploitation, an independent Korea would 
be of no hindrance to Japan. On the contrary, it 
would be an asset, as then the Japanese immigrants 
would be welcomed as immigrants and not hated as 
exploiters. 

The third claim that Japan holds Korea for the 
humanitarian purpose of aiding the Koreans along the 
path of modern civilization is a nauseating hypocrisy. 
Ever since Japan went into Korea she has been practis- 
ing upon the Koreans Turkish cruelty, with German 
efficiency and Japanese cunning. Yet she claims that 
she loves the Koreans as her own people. At the very 
moment when the Japanese statesmen are making pub- 
lic statements that they love the Koreans as their 
brethren, villages are being wiped out, innocent men 
and women are being beaten to death behind prison 
bars. The promises of reform, almost before they 
have left the mouth of official Tokyo, are being washed 
away In blood. 

Why, then, does Japan want to hold Korea? It is 
for the same reason that HideyoshI invaded Korea 
over three centuries ago. Hideyoshl's real objective 
was the Asiatic mainland. Korea is the bridge be- 
tween China and Japan, so It was necessary for the 
Japanese Shogun to conquer Korea first before march- 



PEEFACE 15 

ing his armies to the Middle Kingdom. So it is to-day. 
The ultimate objective of Pan-Nipponism is to con- 
solidate all Asia under Japanese domination, after 
wiiich will come the settlement of the mastery of the 
Pacific. In order to dominate the continent of Asia, 
it is necessary for Japan strongly to entrench herself 
in Korea so that she may use that territory as a base 
of military operations. In this respect, and in it alone, 
the holding of Korea is essential to Japan. 

Thus, we see the real object of Japan in holding 
Korea permits no argument. To the conqueror, 
whether he be an exponent of Pan-Germanism or Pan- 
Nipponism, justice has no argument and humanity 
presents no appeal. He listens to but one reason — that 
of strategy and cunning; and obeys but one com- 
mand — that of force. Hence, the Korean question 
from the Japanese point of view has no argument to 
present and no appeal to make. 

There are some American and European disciples of 
physical force, though small in number, who still be- 
lieve that a nation that is not strong enough to main- 
tain its integrity against its aggressive neighbours has 
no right to enjoy the privileges of independence. 
Therefore, if the Koreans are not in a position to drive 
out the Japanese from their land, they should suffer 
the thraldom of alien domination. This is, indeed, a 
cynical and callous sentiment based upon the worn-out 
idea that might makes right. The finer promptings of 
humanity and generous impulses of good faith are 
given no voice in the council of force. To those who 
subscribe to this doctrine — the doctrine of might — the 



16 PEEFACE 

only plea that I, as a Korean, have to make is the 
same that Daniel Webster made in his address to the 
jury in the case of Dartmouth College a century ago: 
" It is a poor little country, but there are those who 
love it." 

H. C. 
Washington, D. C, 



Contents 



I. Introduction 25 

Land and People — Mountains — Climate — Agricultural 
Products — Mineral Deposits — Ethnography — Opinions of 
Keane, Hulbert, Gale — Population — Religious Beliefs ; 
History and Civilization — Antiquity of Korean History — 
Civilization of Ancient and Mediaeval Korea — Opinions of 
Brown, Bishop, Griffis ; Inauguration of Open Door — - 
Making Treaties with Western Powers — American Busi- 
ness Enterprises in Korea. 

II. Diplomatic Relations Between Korea and 
Japan .41 

Traditional Enmity Between Two Nations — First 
Treaty with Japan, 1876 — Murder of the Korean Queen 
by Japanese, 1895— ^Guaranteeing Korean Independence 
at the Beginning of Russo-Japanese War, 1904 — Forcing 
Protectorate upon Korea After the War, 1905 — Final An- 
nexation, 19 10 — Willoughby's Comment — Situation from 
International Jurist's Point of View. 

III. Political and Judicial Oppression . . 6i 

Dictatorship of Governor-General — Removal of Koreans 
from All Official Positions — Statement of an American 
Resident of Korea — Country Covered with Network of 
Officialdom — Korea and India Compared: 17,000 Offi- 
cials in Korea, 1,200 in India — No Legal Protection to 
Koreans — Courts Are Tools of Governor-General — Ex- 
traordinary Power of Police — Enumeration of Deficien- 
cies in Legal Procedure — " Summary Judgment " — Num- 
ber of Convictions, 1913-17 — Opinion of Bishop Herbert 
Welch. 

IV. The Official " Paddle " . . . .74 

Illegality of Flogging — Administered to Koreans Only — 
Japanese Excuse — Description of Flogging as Given by 
Dr. Frank W. Schofield— Its Fatal Effect upon the 
Victim — Number Flogged, 1913-19 — Editorial Comment 
oi Japan Chronicle. 

17 



18 CONTENTS 

V. Prisons and Prison Tortures ... 86 

Cruelty of Tortures Unparalleled in History — Men Pris- 
oners — Testimony Given Out by Headquarters of Presby- 
terian Church in New York — Revolting Treatment of 
"Women Prisoners — Excerpts from Congressional Record 
— Filth and Congestion — Prisons Unheated in Winter — 
Letter from a Presbyterian Missionary in Pyeng Yang. 

VI. Economic Exploitation .... io6 

Increase in National Debt and Taxes — Graft and Cor- 
ruption in Imperial Government-owned Public Utilities — 
Travelled Portion of Country Made a Show Case for Tour- 
ists — Koreans Forced to Build Military Roads without 
Compensation — Confiscation of Lands — Forced Exodus 
of Koreans into Manchuria and Siberia — Irredeemable 
Currency — Business Monopoly — Governmental Control of 
Household Finances of Koreans — Testimony of an Amer- 
ican Resident in Korea. 

VII. Intellectual Strangulation . . .125 

Policy of Japanese Government to Keep Koreans as Ig- 
norant as Possible — Confiscation and Burning of Korean 
Historical Books — No Free Press or Free Speech — Two 
Years Jail Sentence for Writing Sonnet to Liberty — Abo- 
lition of Private Schools — Japanizing Curriculum of Public 
Schools — Schools for Korean Children Fewer in Number 
and Inferior in Grade Compared with Those Provided for 
Japanese Children in Korea — Korean Students not Per- 
mitted to Go Abroad for Education. 

VIII. Imposition of Social Evils . . . 145 

Moral Standards of Japan — Observations of Galen W. 
Fisher, Captain Bechel, Ernest W. Clement — Introduction 
of Japanese Prostitute System into Korea — Comments of 
Frank W. Schofield, Arthur Judson Brown — Encouraging 
Use of Opium and Morphine among Koreans — Minor 
Social Evils — Drinking, Gambling, etc. 

IX. The Persecution of the Church . .159 

Virility of the Korean Church — Japanese Attempts to 
Undermine It by Peaceful Methods — Open Persecution — 
"Conspiracy Case " — Statement of Dr. W. W. Pinson — 
" Educational Ordinances " Passed to Close Mission 
Schools — Statement of Rev. James E. Adams — Efforts to 
Suppress Korean Nationality Produce Opposite Effect 
upon Korean Children — Christians Singled Out for Perse- 
cution during Independence Demonstrations — Excerpt 
from Report of Presbyterian Mission Station at Pyeng 
Yang. 



CONTENTS 19 

X. Indignities to Missionaries . . .173 

Policy of Japan to Exclude Westerners from Korea — 
McKenzie's Observations in Korea — Attitude of Mission- 
aries — Neutral Position of Missionaries in Regard to In- 
dependence Movement — Editorial Attack on Missionaries 
by Japanese Papers — Bringing Thugs from Japan to Ter- 
rorize Missionaries — Beating American Women by Jap- 
anese Soldiers — Searching American Homes Without 
Warrant — Arrest and Sentence of the Rev. Mr. Mowry — 
Assault on the Rev. Mr. Thomas — Editorial Comment of 
Japan Chronicle. 

XI. The Movement to Restore Independence 187 

Japan's Right in Korea not Recognized by Koreans — 
Status of Japan's Entering Korea — Gradual Shifting of 
Position from Protectorate to Absorption — Stubborn Re- 
sistance of Koreans — McKenzie's Visit to Fighting Dis- 
tricts — Fight Still Goes On — Sentiment of Saner Element 
of People — Reaction on Japanization Program — Effect 
of Allies' War Aims — The King's Death — Committees 
and Personnel of Independence Movement — The Inde- 
pendence Proclamation. 

XII. The Movement to Restore Independence 
{Continued') ...... 204 

Comments on Independence Proclamation — Historic 
Banquet — Movement Nation-Wide — Unity of People — 
Official Espionage — Demonstrations Strictly Passive — 
Petition of Viscounts Kim Yun-sik and Yi Yong-chik — 
Organization of Provisional Government — Dr. Syngman 
Rhee — Korea and Czecho-Slovakia Compared — Japan 
Bewildered. 

XIII. Japan Amuck 214 

The Independence News — Its Advice to Demonstrators 
Not to Commit Violence — Wholesale Arrests — Soldiers 
and Police Running Amuck — Japanese Civilians Aiding 
their Officers in Reign of Terror — Men, Women and 
Children Indiscriminately Cut Down — Observations of 
Dr, Edward W. Thwing, Mrs. Robertson Scott, Mr. 
William R. Giles — Japanese Vernacular Papers Encour- 
aged Outraging — Statement of the Rev. Mr. A. E. Arm- 
strong. 

XIV. Massacres 231 

Foreigners Chronicled Only a Small Percentage of Hor- 
rors Throughout' the Country — Massacres and Destruction 
of Villages in Country Districts — Massacre in Northern 



20 



CONTENTS 



Korea — In Southern Korea — In Central Korea — Con- 
sular Investigation of Massacre in Suwan District — 
Chai-amm-ni, Su-chon, Wha-su-ri — Opinion of the Rev. 
Mr. Albertus Pieters on Korean Massacres. 



XV. " Speaking Officially" 

Governmental Control of News Channels — Falsified Of- 
ficial Reports — Comments by Walter E. Weyl and 
William Elliot Griffis — Garbled Reports in Seoul Press 
—Manipulation of Foreign Visitors in Japan and Korea 
— Experience of Elsie McCormick — Opinion of V. S. 
McClatchy — Japan Society — Atrocities Denied by Jap- 
anese Embassy and Consulates in America — Issuing 
Official Instructions in Korea for Circulation in Amer- 
ica and Europe — Incidents Connected with Visit of 
Congressional Party in the Orient. 



241 



XVI. Jafan-'s Alleged Reforms 

Publicity Aided Korean Cause — Indignation in Amer- 
ica over Atrocities in Korea — Announcement of Re-- 
forms — Disappointment of Friends of Korea and Japan 
in Seeing no Real Reforms — " Summary Judgment," 
Prison Tortures, Suppression of Free Press and Speech, 
Revolting Treatment of Women, and Massacres Still 
Continue — Promised Local Government Serves as a 
Part of Official Espionage — Reforms in Korea Impos- 
sible Under Same System and Same Officials Although 
Under Different Name — Reform Announcement Noth- 
ing More Than Camouflage — Bishop Candler's Views — 
How the Korean Looks at the Reforms. 



266 



XVII. Korean and Japanese Characters Con- 
trasted . 

Monotheism in Korea — Different Views of What Con- 
stitutes Power — Nitobe's Views — Japanese Political 
Philosophy — Two Articles by " Spectator " — " The 
Korean's Courage " — " Japan's Problem." 



285 



XVIII. Conclusion . . . . . . 

Korean Independence Movement Stronger Now Than 
in 1919 — Findings of Nathaniel Peffer, Elsie McCor- 
mick, Frazier Hunt — Japan's Impossible Position in 
Korea — Attempt to Bribe Korean Leaders — Japan Con- 
tinues Iron-hand Policy — Koreans Determined to 
Struggle for Freedom to Bitter End — Korea's Hope in 
Final Settlement of Far Eastern Question. 



301 



CONTENTS 21 

Appendices 

I. The Trial of Viscount Miura for the Murder of the 

Korean Queen . . . . . .322 

II. Treaties and Conventions Relating to Korean Inde- 

pendence . . . . . . .328 

(d) Full Text of Korean- American Treaty, 1882 
(F) List of Identical Treaties with Other Powers 
(J) Excerpts from Treaties made by Japan Rec- 
ognizing or Asserting Independence of Korea 

III. Balance Sheet Between Korea and Japan . . 340 

IV. Increases In Korea's Debt During Japanese Control 341 

V. Excess Taxes Collected During Japanese Control of 

Korea ........ 342 

VI. Petition by Viscounts Kim Yun-sik and Yi Yong- 

chik to General Hasegawa, Japanese Governor- 
General of Korea . . . . . •343 

Vlt. Atrocity Statistics 346 

Index 359 



Illustrations 



Korea and Its Position in the Far East (Map) 

Bird's Eye View of Seoul 
Sur Jai-pil 
Kim Oak-kyun 
Yi Yong-chik 
Yun Chi-ho . 
Yi Sang-jai . 

The Independence Arch Outside Seoul 
Granite Statue of Buddha at Eun Chin 
Prince Min Yong Whan 
Son Byung Hi 
Korea's New Womanhood 
Post Office and Bank, Seoul 
Central Park, Seoul 
Main Street, Seoul 
One of the City Gates, Seoul 
Pai Jai College, Seoul 
The Korean Christian Institute, Honolulu 
A Typical Korean Church and Its Congrei 
A Japanese House of Ill-Fame in Seoul . 
Rev. Ely M. Mowry in Prisoner's Garb . 

23 



Frontispiece 
Facing Page 
26 

42 
42 
42 

42 

42 

62 

62 

76 

76 

98 

108 

108 

108 

108 

132 

132 

;ation 156 

156 

184 



24 



ILLUSTEATIONS 



Lee Dong Whee . . . . . . 

Ahn Chang Ho ....... 

The Liberty Bell at Chong-no, Seoul 

A Facsimile Reproduction of the Independence News 

Syngman Rhee, Ph. D. . 

Shopkeepers' Strike During the Independence Dem- 
onstrations . . . . 

Japanese Soldiers Guarding the Streets of Seoul 

A Japanese Officer " Explaining " to an American 
Missionary the Massacre of Chai-amm-ni 

Ruins of Chang-duri 

Ruins of Su-chon . 



Remains of Wha-su-ri After 
Paid It a Visit 



Henry Chung 

Kiusic Kimm 

Soon Hyun . 

Viscount Kim Yun-sik . 

The Korean Christian Maid 

A Group of Korean Leaders in China 



Japanese Soldiers Had 



198 
198 
208 
208 
212 

216 
216 

232 
232 
238 

238 

244 
244 
244 
286 
286 
306 



Maps 



I. Korea and Its Position in the Far East . Frontispiece 

II. Protestant Mission Stations in Korea . . 366 

III. Centers of National Movement for Independence 367 



I 

INTRODUCTION 

I. The Land and the People 

KOREA, the land of Morning Calm, is a coun- 
try that lies between China, Japan and Rus- 
sian Siberia. It has an area of 84,000 
square miles, not including the " Ten Thousand 
Islands," that cluster thickly along its western and 
eastern shores, and give a total area of nearly 90,000 
square miles. In length it is about 660 miles with an 
average width of 130 miles, forming a peninsula that 
divides the Yellow and Japan Seas. 

The coastline extends about 1,940 miles, greatly 
varying in its configuration. The principal harbours 
are Wonsan (Gensan) on the northeast coast, Fusan 
and Masanpo at the southern end of the peninsula, 
and Mokpo, Chemulpo, Chinnampo, and Yongampo on 
the west coast. 

There are no mighty streams in Korea. The Yalu, 
the longest of them, flowing from the Paik Tu San 
(White-head Mountain) into the Korea Bay in the 
Yellow Sea, is navigable about sixty miles from the 
sea, and forms part of the boundary between Korea 
and Manchuria. In former years it has been crossed 
by innumerable armies in marches and counter- 
marches, and this fact has led to the soubriquet — the 

25 



26 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Rubicon of the Orient. The Tumen River rises from 
the same mountain and following a northeasterly 
course, empties into the Gulf of Peter the Great in the 
Jappin Sea. These two rivers separate Korea from 
northeastern Manchuria and Siberia. 

A mountain range runs the entire length of the 
peninsula like the backbone of a fish, and abounds in 
wild game — tigers, deer, antelopes, leopards, wild 
boars, bears and pheasants. The most famous of the 
Korean mountains is the Paik Tu San (White-head 
Mountain) which lies on the boundary line of Korea 
and Manchuria. The highest peak of the Paik Tu 
San is about nine thousand feet above sea level and is 
an extinct volcano. In its crater lies a beautiful lake, 
the Dragon Prince's Pool, and on its sides grow 
primeval forests. The grandeur and beauty of the 
Paik Tu San have been sung not only by the Koreans 
and the Chinese, but also in the literature of Japan. 

The Diamond Mountains, mother of the River Han, 
in Kang Wun Province, compare favourably with the 
Yosemite Valley of California. Of the cliffs and can- 
yons from the monastery of Chang An Sa, Mrs. Isa- 
bella Bird Bishop says: "Surely the beauty of that 
eleven miles is not much exceeded anywhere on earth." 
A more recent visitor describes the scenery as worth 
travelling around the earth to behold. These moun- 
tains are full of monasteries, centuries old, adorned 
with relics of ancient art. It was to the Diamond 
Mountains, according to native traditions, that Bud- 
dhism first came direct from India, and where fifty- 
three Buddhists landed with a shipload of scriptures 



mTEODTJCTION 27 

on the east coast and built the first Buddhist temple, 
Yu Chum Sa. 

Of the climate in Korea, an American who has lived 
in nine states says that he is "of the opinion that the 
most delightful all-the-y ear-round climate to be found 
anywhere is in this peninsula-kingdom." Winters are 
dry, clear and crisp, although the summers are hot and 
rainy. Lying between the thirty- fourth and forty- 
third parallels of north latitude, the climate is that of 
the north temperate zone, resembling that of Ne- 
braska and Kansas. The sea surrounding the three 
sides of the Korean peninsula tends to stabilize the 
climate; hence the winters are not severely cold nor 
the summers oppressively hot. The average rainfall is 
about thirty-six inches a year, affording the exuberant 
growth of vegetation of the temperate zone, and mak- 
ing intensive agriculture highly profitable. Millet, 
beans, peas, rice, potatoes, Indian corn, wheat, barley, 
buckwheat, rye, cotton, silk, tobacco, sorghum and a 
variety of garden truck have been successfully grown 
for centuries. Korea has always produced more grain 
than her people could consume, and in the past has had 
the least number of famines of any country in the 
East. 

The country is not less rich in its mineral resources. 
Cold, silver, tungsten, graphite, copper, iron, coal and 
chalk have been found in Korea, some of them in 
abundant deposits. The Unsan mine alone, a gold 
mine controlled by an American firm, produced within 
a dozen years after the concession was granted in 1896, 
1,637,591 tons of ore, valued at $10,Y01,157. 



28 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

The origin and classification of the Korean race is 
more or less a baffling problem to the ethnologists of 
the world. The Korean scholars themselves are un- 
certain as to the origin of their ancestors. Racial 
characteristics of the Malays, the Mongols and the 
Caucasians are found among the people of Korea. 
It will be of interest to note the opinion of the various 
Western observers on this point. Prof. A. H. Keane, 
a distinguished ethnologist of Great Britain, main- 
tains that the Korean people were originally of Cau- 
casian stock intermingled with the Mongolian race. 
In his discussion of the racial stock of the Asiatic 
peoples the great English authority on races states: 

In the adjacent Korean Peninsula the Caucasian ele- 
ment is even more marked than among the Tunguses. 
European features — light eyes, large nose, hair often 
brown, full beard, fair and even white skin, tall stature — 
are conspicuous especially amongst the upper classes and 
in the south. The presence of Neolithic Caucasians from 
the Far West is, also, attested by their works, megalithic 
structures, which look like duplicates of the European 
dolmens and cromlechs. The Koreans take their present 
name from the Koryo dynasty (918-1392 a. d.), which 
marks the most flourishing epoch in the national records. 
For about five hundred years they were the dominant 
people in northeast Asia; trade and the industrial arts 
were highly developed, and It was in Korea that the 
Japanese first acquired that skill in porcelain and bronze 
work which they afterwards brought to such great per- 
fection.* 

*Cf. A. H. Keane, The World's Peoples, p. 163; idem, 
Uthnology, p. 314. 



INTEODUCTION 29 

Professor Homer B. Hulbert, formerly an Ameri- 
can educationalist, after his stay of over twenty years 
in Korea, says concerning the people : 

They are overshadowed by China on the one hand in 
respect of numbers, and by Japan on the other in respect 
of wit. They are neither good merchants like the one 
nor good fighters like the other, and yet they are far 
more like Anglo-Saxons in temperament than either, and 
they are by far the pleasantest people in the Far East to 
live amongst/ 

It is fairly certain that the aborigines of Korea in- 
termingled with other Asiatic races — the Manchus, the 
Mongols, the inhabitants of China proper, and the 
Aryan race of Hindustan. They had formed the 
racial consciousness and national solidarity of Korea 
long before the birth of the modern nations in Europe. 

This discussion of Korean ethnography will not be 
complete without a word about the racial distinction 
between the Koreans and the Japanese. This is espe- 
cially important because the Japanese are now invent- 
ing ethnological facts and are creating historical data 
to prove to the Koreans that Japan was their mother 
country, as England was to America, and that every- 
thing in Korean civilization originally came from Ja- 
pan. ^Here I can do no better than to quote the fol- 
lowing from the pen of Dr. James S. Gale, one of the 
greatest Western scholars on Korean history. 

Korea remained a single undivided kingdom from 
669 A. D. till August, 1910, twelve hundred and forty-one 

* Homer B. Hulbert, The Passing of Korea, Preface. 



30 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

years. Only twice in all that time did her ruling House 
change, once in 918, and again in 1392, and never did 
she have any internal wars as great as those of the Roses 
of England. Scholars and writers lived and flourished, 
an army of them, when our fathers had only Chaucer. 
In 1600 an assembly of as brilliant literati as the world 
has ever seen, gathered in Seoul, unconscious that on the 
other side of this little planet Shakespeare was writing 
Hamlet. 

The works of one great scholar crossed the path of the 
writer recently, and he offered twenty-two yen ($11.00) 
for it, but a Japanese bought it over his head for forty- 
four. The Japanese fairly worship the literature of this 
little kingdom and long that they may write such lines as 
these. . 

Great in letters, great also was she in porcelain, in 
paper, in printing, in brass and iron work — a highly 
gifted people, untouched by the outer world. True, she 
was nominally under the suzerainty of China, but that 
was only a gentleman's agreement between the Imperial 
and Royal Houses. The Chinese never thought of inter- 
fering with Korea's internal affairs for all these fourteen 
hundred years. 

In 1910 Korea's independence was lost, not by con- 
quest, but by half a dozen officials handing over the State 
to Japan. They were liberally pensioned off and to-day 
enjoy the fruits of their labours while the awakened 
people behold their land in bondage. . . . 

Korea and Japan find it impossible to live together in 
harmony, so different are they. The Japanese are wor- 
shippers of the Emperor and count him semi-divine. The 
Koreans laugh at the idea. . . . The Koreans, even 
the lowest classes, are all more or less gentlemen imbued 
with the saving truths of Confucianism, while the lower 
class Japanese are closely allied to the naked South Sea 
Islanders. . . . 



INTEODUCTION 31 

The Korean is a man of the pen while Japan is a nation 
of warriors. Military officials in Korea have always 
been rated second class, while Japan is ruled by the 
sword, and admires beyond measure the Hohenzollern 
with his clicking spurs. 

The prominence of the prostitute in Japan is shocking 
to Korea. When a candidate for Parliament can issue 
a manifesto as proof of his worth and fitness for office, 
stating that he is backed up by the lawyers of the town, 
by the rice merchants, and by the head of the prostitutes' 
guilds, without giving any offense or calling forth any 
remarks, we can judge of the peculiar view Japan has as 
to the " strange women." Korea's view of her is just 
what the American view is, or should be. From these 
illustrations it will be seen how difficult it is for Korea 
and Japan to walk together.* 

Suffice it to say that the racial and cultural distinc- 
tion between Korea and Japan is, and always has been, 
greater than that between France and Germany. And 
in so far as I am able to judge, this distinction will 
remain despite the desperate effort of the Nipponese to 
Japanize the Hermit Kingdom. Korea will remain 
Korea and, like the Frenchman's chameleon, the more 
it changes the more it becomes the same. J 

The population, as given out by Japan, on December 
31, 1918, was 17,412,871, which included foreigners 
19,956, classified as follows: Chinese 18,973, Ameri- 
cans 597, British 233, French 107, Germans 57. It 
will be noted that no data are given as to the number 
of Japanese, but the census of 1915 gave the number 

* James S. Gale, "The Missionary Outlook in Korea," The 
Missionary Review of the World, February, 1920, pp. 1 17-122, 



32 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

of Japanese as 303,659. Both the census of 1915 and 
of 1918 were pubHshed by Japan for the world's bene- 
fit, with the number of Koreans purposely misstated. 
Japanese military records, which approach German 
precision and methods, give the total number of Ko- 
reans as 18,383,446. If we add to this figure the mil- 
lion and a half or more Koreans living in Siberia and 
Manchuria, we have a grand total of 20,000,000 people 
who are citizens of Korea. 

The Christianity of Korea Is predominantly Protes- 
tant. Just before Japan began its policy of destroying 
the churches and schools, there were 3,164 Christian 
churches, with 6,690 ministers. The Buddhists had 
258 places of worship with 313 priests, and the Japa- 
nese maintained sixty-five Shinto places in which to 
worship the picture of the Mikado. The Christian 
missionary field in Korea is highly developed, and Is 
more or less self-supporting, reaching out into activi- 
ties that are carried on by the citizen adherents. The 
Presbyterians have twenty-one Mission centers all told 
with full complements of churches, schools, hospitals, 
etc. The Methodists have eight and the Catholics 
have from twenty to thirty. The Chuntokyo or 
" Heaven Worshippers " have a numerical strength 
about equal to that of the Buddhists, though they are 
not mentioned in Japanese statistics. 

11. History and Civilization 
The history of Korea dates back to the founding of 
Korea by Tan-Koon, 2333 b. c, in the basin of Sun- 
gari River, which is now known as Southern Man- 



INTEODUCTION 33 

churia. The founding of the Fuyu Kingdom by this 
king of Korea is recognized by Du Halde, the French 
geographer and historian on the authority of ancient 
manuscripts which he translated, and the coming of 
the King Kija from China in 1123 b. c. is recognized 
in all written history. To this day the inhabitants of 
Pyeng Yang preserve the tomb of this Chinese sage, 
who gave them law and civilization, as a sacred shrine, 
and pilgrims pay annual visits to this Mecca of Korea. 

The history of Korea is not a peaceful one; there 
have been invasions and counter-invasions from China 
and Japan, such as the invasion of Korea by Gengis- 
Khan in 1S18, and the Japanese invasion under 
Hideyoshi in 1592. But sooner or later Korea suc- 
ceeded in driving out foreign invaders and maintained 
the country free and independent. 

The Yi dynasty, which ended August 29, 1910, was 
founded by Yi Taijo in 1392. He was the command- 
ing officer of the Korean army sent out to invade 
China. But the ambitious general turned his forces 
against his ruler, thereby usurping the Korean throne. 
He promptly formed an alliance with China securing 
the friendship and support of the Chinese Emperor. 
From then on Korea maintained these relations with 
her more powerful neighbour. But she made treaties 
with other nations and administered her own laws in- 
dependent of China. 

Korea made her first treaty with Japan in 1876, the 
first article of which reads: "Chosen, being an in- 
dependent state, enjoys the same sovereign rights as 
does Japan." The Korean-American treaty was made 



34 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

in 1882; the treaty between Korea and Great Britain 
was made in 1883; one with Germany in the same 
year; with Italy and Russia in 1884; with France in 
1886; with China in 1895, in which China definitely 
recognized the independence of Korea, as had all other 
countries up to that time; with Belgium in 1901, and 
with Denmark in 1902. In the meantime on Novem- 
ber 12, 1897, the King of Korea was raised to the 
title of Emperor and was so recognized by all the 
Powers. 

In 1882 the King of Korea wrote to the President 
of the United States saying: 

Now as the governments of the United States and 
Korea are about to enter into treaty relations, the inter- 
course between the two nations shall be carried on in 
every respect on terms of equality and courtesy, and the 
King of Korea clearly assents that all of the articles 
shall be acknowledged and carried into effect according 
to the laws of independent states. 

Thus it is clear that Korea had always maintained 
her independence and national entity during the forty 
centuries of her history until a protectorate was forced 
upon her by Japan in 1905. "^ 

During the dynasty of Tan-Koon Korea seems to 
have developed a degree of civilization rarely found 
among primitive people, such as the art of writing, 
cultivation of the soil and the domestication of ani- ^ 
mals. This civilization was materially advanced by 
that which the Chinese brought over by KIja, 1122 
B. c. This Chinese noble introduced a new written 



INTEODUCTION 35 

language — Chinese ideographs, established a stable 
government, enacted wise laws, and also stabilized a 
civilization that was even higher than that which at 
that time prevailed in China. 

During the period of the Sila dynasty, the people 
imbibed much of the Hindu civilization through Bud- 
dhism, which was then the prevailing religion of the 
peninsula. They cultivated the arts; built walls 
around their cities; fortified strategic points; used 
horses, oxen and wagons; made silk; smelted ore; 
manufactured Iron; and traded with other kingdoms. 
Koradadbeh, an Arab geographer of the ninth cen- 
tury, describes the Koreans as familiar with manu- 
facture of nails, and states that they rode on saddles, 
wore silk, and were skilled in the making of porcelain. 
According to another Western authority: 

Japanese records show that the Japanese themselves 
first learned from Koreans the cultivation of the silk- 
worm, the weaving of cloth, architecture, the printing of 
books, the painting of pictures, the beautifying of gar- 
dens, the making of leather harness, and the shaping of 
more effective weapons. . . . Whereas the Chinese 
invented the art of printing from movable wooden blocks, 
'the Koreans Invented metal type In 1403. They used a 
phonetic alphabet in the early part of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. They saw the significance of the mariner's compass 
In 1525. They devised, in 1550, an astronomical instru- 
ment which they very properly called " a heavenly 
measurer." Money was used as a medium of exchange 
In Korea long before it was employed In Northern 
Europe. They used cannon and explosive shells when 
the Japanese invaded In 1592. The first Iron-clad war- 
ship in the world was invented by a Korean, Admiral 



36 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Yi-Sun-Sin, in the sixteenth centur}^ He called it the 
Tortoise Boat, and he commanded it with such effective- 
ness against the Japanese that it was largely instrumental 
in defeating the fleet of Hideyoshi. . . . 

While the Japanese proved themselves to be stronger 
in war, they were deeply influenced by the Koreans in 
religion and the arts of peace. Korea gave Buddhism to 
Japan in 552 a. d. . . . Many people praise the 
Japanese for their exquisite Satsuma ware without know- 
ing that the Koreans long ago taught the Japanese the 
art of its manufacture/ 

From time immemorial cooperative associations for 
business enterprise and insurance companies for mu- 
tual protection in the form of various guilds were 
known in Korea. A paragraph from the pen of Mrs. 
Isabella Bird Bishop on the Korean Kyei (guild) is 
illuminating: 

The faculty of combination, by which, in Korea as in 
China, the weak find some measure of protection against 
the strong, is being turned to useful account. This Kyei, 
or principle of association, which represents one of the 
most noteworthy features of Korea, develops into in- 
surance companies, mutual benefit associations, money- 
lending syndicates, tontines, marriage and burial clubs, 
great trading guilds and many others. 

With its innumerable associations, only a few of which 
I have alluded to, Korean life is singularly complete, and 
the Korean business world is far more fully organized 
than ours, nearly all the traders in the country being 
members of guilds, powerfully bound together, and hav- 
ing the common feature of mutual helpfulness in time of 
need. This habit of united action, and the measure of 
honesty which is essential to the success of combined 

, ^A. J. Brown, The Mastery of the Pacific, pp. 53-54. 



INTEODUCTION 37 

undertakings, supply the framework on which various 
joint-stock companies are being erected, among which 
one of the most important is a tannery/ 

William Elliot Griffis, a profound American scholar 
on Oriental history and civilization, writes as follows 
on the educational system of Korea: 

She fosters education by making scholastic ability, as 
tested in the literary examination, the basis of appoint- 
ment to office. This " Civil Service Reform " was estab- 
lished in Chosen by the now ruling dynasty early in the 
fifteenth century. Education in Korea is public, and 
encouraged by the government in this sense, that it is 
made the road to government employ and official promo- 
tion. By instituting literary examinations for the civil 
and military service, and nominally opening them to all 
competitors, and filling all vacancies with the successful 
candidates, there is created and maintained a constant 
stimulus to culture.* 

Indeed, the Korean civilization which the Western- 
ers found when Korea was first opened to Western 
intercourse was decidedly lower than what it had 
been. This, of course, does not mean that Korea was 
decadent The history of Italy, Greece and Egypt 
shows that the civilization of a people has its ebb and 
flow. The potential genius of the present-day Korean 
is azvakening under the guiding influence of Western 
culture and Christian democracy. That is the spirit 
of the new Korea. 

* Isabella Bird Bishop, Korea and Her Neighbors, pp. 440-441. 

* William Elliot Griffis, Corea, the Hermit Nation, p. 339. 



38 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

III. Inauguration of the " Open Door '* 

/ Korea opened its doors to the outside world with 
the treaty that it made with the United States in 1883. 
Prior to that time it had been known as the " Hermit 
Kingdom," and the policy of the nation had been to 
isolate itself from all outside intercourse; its states- 
men believing that such contact led to strife and war. 
The " Open Door " treaty with the United States of 
1883 was followed by similar Treaties with Great 
Britain, Germany, Austria, Russia, Italy, China, Bel- 
gium and Denmark. The diplomatic relations thus 
inaugurated continued for twenty-three years, until 
1905, and would still be in existence but for Japanese 
ambition to dominate Asia to the exclusion of other 
^ Powers. 

Each of the Treaties contained the clause that: 

If other Powers deal unjustly or oppressively with 
either Government, the other will exert their good offices, 
on being informed of the case, to bring about an amicable 
arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings. 

No one has ever had the hardihood, not even the Japa- 
nese, to contend that Korea ever violated any of these 
Treaties in the smallest detail. She kept her cove- 
nants and would still be fulfilling her international 
obligations to the world but for Japan; and, outside 
of Japan, it must be said that up to 1905 when Japan 
took its bold stand as to Korea, the other Powers, in 
many instances, actively and conscientiously fulfilled 
their obligations towards Korea. 

In 1895 at the making of the Shimonoseki Treaty 



INTEODUCTION 39 

between Japan and China, the United States, accord- 
ing to the late Secretary of State John W. Foster, 
intervened to insure the writing into that Treaty of a 
clause that provided for the explicit recognition by 
both Japan and China of the independence and terri- 
torial integrity of Korea. Prior to that time Acting 
Secretary of State, A. A. Adee, had made a ruling 
denying the suzerainty of China. In 1898 Russia 
actively opposed Japanese aggression in Korea and in 
the Treaty between Russia and Japan, April 25, 1898, 
again forced Japan to acknowledge the independence 
of Korea. 

However, in 1905 all this active and aggressive as- 
sistance from the other Powers with which Korea had 
treaty relations ceased. But Korea is fair enough to 
assume that the other Powers have been misled by the 
intrigue and deceptive methods of Japan, and that 
when " the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth " stands out before the world, the other Powers 
will fulfill their covenants as fully and freely as they 
did prior to 1905. 

The foregoing is the political side of the " Inaugu- 
ration of the Open Door " in Korea. There is also a 
practical, commercial side. America, the first western 
nation with which treaty relations were made, naturally 
had the lead and maintained precedence in the com- 
mercial development of Korea. Americans built the 
first railroad, the first electric light plant, first electric 
railway and the first water works; installed the first 
modern arsenal and powder plant, built Korea's first 
steamboats of any size, and furnished her mines with 



40 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

the first modern machinery. America by no means had 
exclusive concessions, though it may have held the 
lead; Great Britain, France and other Powers took a 
part in this development. 

There are 1,066 miles of standard gauge railroads, 
consisting of a main line running diagonally the length 
of Korea from Fusan, on the southeast, to Wiji, on 
the northwest, via the capital city, Seoul, and the next 
largest city, Pyeng Yang, with branch lines to 
the port cities of Chinnampo, Chemulpo, Kunsan, 
Mokpo, Masanpo and Wonsan. 

There is also a narrow gauge railroad, eighty miles 
long, from the east coast city of Chun-chin, to Hoi- 
ryung in the northeast of Korea, and electric street 
railways are in operation in Seoul, the capital, and 
Pyeng Yang. In 1898 Korea was formally admitted 
into the International Postal Union, and throughout 
the country there has been maintained an efficient pos- 
tal, telephone and telegraph service. 

Of course, these things are all now dominated and 
controlled by Japanese; nevertheless they are there, a 
nucleus for a still greater and more liberal develop- 
ment when Korea is restored to her rightful interna- 
tional status. 



11 

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN 
KOREA AND JAPAN 

KOREA and Japan have been traditional ene- 
mies from time immemorial. " There has 
never been a time in history, from 600 b. c to 
the present time, when Japan has not exhibited a hos- 
tile and aggressive spirit towards the Korean people 
and government," says Homer B. Hulbert, the author 
of Korean History and the Passing of Korea. 

For 2,000 years it was a series of robber raids and at- 
tempted extortions on the part of Japan, until in 1390 
A. D. a Korean general succeeded in inflicting such pun- 
ishment upon the corsairs that they ceased for a time 
their raids. But in 1592 the Japanese invaded the coun- 
try with an immense army, and it was only after seven 
years of sanguinary strife that the combined Korean and 
Chinese armies finally expelled the invaders. It is said 
that twenty per cent, of the Korean population perished 
in this conflict. It put a stop to Japanese aggression for 
300 years.* 

At the time of Hideyoshi's invasion, 1593, Korea 
had a standing army of 50,000. Nearly 3,000,000 
people, men, women and children, w^ere killed by Japa- 

^Frorn a report, printed in the Congressional Record, August 
18, 1919. 

41 



42 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

nese, and ninety per cent, of the perished were non- 
/ combatants.* The Japanese army literally " scooped 
the country," as one historian puts it, carrying away 
whatever they could, and destroying what they could 
not take with them. Priceless treasures of Korean art 
and porcelain were destroyed by the invading hordes, 
and since then the Korean art never regained its an- 
cient glory. Even to-day a traveller in Japan can see 
in a street of Kyoto, the old capital of Japan, the fa- 
mous, or rather infamous, " Ear and Nose Monu- 
ment," beneath which are buried the severed ears and 
noses of several thousand Koreans as a grim evidence 
of Japanese methods of waging war upon Koreans 
over three centuries ago. 

The Koreans have hated the Japanese ever since this 
struggle. After the " Restoration " in Japan, a letter 
was sent to the Koreans notifying them of the fact and 
asking for commercial intercourse. The Koreans sent 
a contemptuous reply. This aggravated the situation, 
and in 1875 armed conflicts between two countries 
occurred, but war was not formally declared. In the 
following year, February 26, 1876, the Koreans were 
compelled to sign a treaty with Japan, the provisions 
of which were, to quote an eminent authority, " in 
almost every detail precisely similar to those in the 
treaties which Japan had herself, when ignorant of 
international law and custom, originally concluded 
with Western Powers, and which she afterwards so 
bitterly resented as a stain on her national dignity. 

*Cf. Korean History prepared by Korean Historical Commis- 
sion, published in Shanghai, China, 1919, pp. 187-188. 




SuR Jai-pil. 



Kim Oak-kyun. 




Yl YONG-CHIK. 



YuN Chi-ho. 



Yi Sang-jai. 



A GROUP OF EARLY REFORMERS SOME OF WHOM ARE STILL 
ACTIVE IN THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT 



EBLATIONS BETWEEN KOEEA AND JAPAN 43 

As the Western Powers had done with herself, so did 
she now, without one particle of compunction, induce 
Korea to sign away her sovereign rights of executive 
and tariff autonomy, and to confer on Japanese resi- 
dents within her borders all the extra-territorial privi- 
leges which were held to violate equity and justice 
when exercised by Europeans in Japan." ' 

With the signing of this treaty, Japan laid her plans 
for the final absorption of Korea. But she saw that 
China was in the way. Korea had been the buffer 
state between China and Japan for centuries, and the 
domination of Korea by Japan would mean tearing 
down the wall that kept the Japanese out of China. 
In order to control Korea China must be compelled to 
stay neutral. With characteristic celerity, Japan made 
preparations for what she deemed to be inevitable con- 
flict with China. When she felt that she was suffi- 
ciently prepared, she struck the blow and China was 
completely prostrated.^ 

In the treaty of peace, signed at Shimonoseki, 1895, 
it was provided that " China and Japan recognize defi- 
nitely the full and complete independence and auton- 
omy, and guarantee the complete neuti^ality of Korea." 
Again, in the treaty of alliance which Japan negotiated 
with Korea at the opening of the war with China, it 
had been declared that its object was " to maintain the 
independence of Korea on a firm footing." Japan, 

*J. H. Longford, The Evolution of New Japan, p. 105. 

' For the causes and events of the war and peace negotiations 
thereof, see the list of references given in the author's The 
Oriental Policy of the United States, pp. 47-48. 



44 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

then, as well as now, spared no pains to conceal her 
ulterior designs. 

After removing the Chinese obstacle, however, 
Japan was surprised to find that she had one more to 
remove. This time it was the Korean Queen. Queen 
Min is considered by many Korean historians as the 
Elizabeth of Korea. She, like the illustrious Queen 
of England, had many personal shortcomings, such as 
feminine vanity, love of flattery, extravagance and 
intolerance of opponents. But she was a woman of 
iron will, of intense patriotism, and of astute judg- 
ment. It was said that she could decide in ten min- 
utes what took the Cabinet members ten months to 
debate over. She firmly believed that the Koreans 
should manage their own affairs and determine their 
own destiny independent of foreign influence. She 
perceived instinctively that beneath all the expressions 
of good will and official guarantees of Korean inde- 
pendence Japan had ulterior designs with regard to 
Korea. She vigorously opposed the spread of Japa- 
nese influence as endangering Korean sovereignty. 
Japanese officials approached her with their familiar 
tactics of reasoning, threats, bribes and cajolery. But 
nothing could move her. She stood like a rock against 
beating waves. Finally the Japanese concluded that 
the only way they could carry out their plans In Korea 
was to remove the Queen; there was no alternative. 
It was not a pleasant thing to kill the Queen of a 
neighbouring country, yet the policy of Greater Japan 
was paramount; nothing must stand in its way. So 
the Japanese Minister at Seoul, Viscount Miura, under 



RELATIONS BETWEEN KOEEA AND JAPAN 45 

the instruction of his Government at Tokyo, brought 
over from Japan soshi (professional assassins) to exe- 
cute the plans of the Imperial Government. The fol- 
lowing succinct paragraph from a competent Western 
witness gives the description of the murder: 

The murder of the Korean Queen in 1895 is ascribed 
directly to this project (project of ultimately annexing 
Korea to Japan), as the anti- Japanese influence of the 
Queen was an obstacle in its path. Japanese assassins, 
said to be acting under instructions from the accredited 
representatives of Japan at the Korean Court, penetrated 
within the palace precinct, killed the Queen, and set the 
palace on fire. Meanwhile, a group of the murderers 
went to the King, brandishing their weapons and uttering 
threats; the King, himself, however, was not injured. 
The Minister of the Household Department, who had 
been wounded, fled to the presence of the King, and was 
stabbed before the King's eyes. On the following morn- 
ing, while still fearing for his life, the Korean ruler was 
forced to sign documents that gave over all power into 
the hands of men who were under Japanese domination. 
Virtually a prisoner in the hands of the Japanese, he 
finally made his escape and took refuge within the walls 
of the Russian Legation; here he called together his 
friends, reorganized his government and punished his 
enemies.* 

It was a gigantic blunder, as well as a crime of the 
first magnitude. The Japanese authorities at Tokyo 
and Seoul at first tried to suppress the news. At that 

* From the New York Times Current History, September, 1919, 
p. 546. For full description o£ the murder, see F. A. McKenzie, 
Tragedy of Korea, Chapters V and VI; idem, Korea's Fight 
for Freedom, Chapter III, 



46 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

time Colonel Cockerill, the famous correspondent of 
the New York Herald, was in Seoul. He immediately 
cabled the news to his paper, but the message was 
stopped by the Japanese, and the money returned to 
him. But gradually the news leaked out to Europe 
and America, and was published in the leading daily 
papers. Then the Japanese Minister, Viscount Miura, 
tried to disclaim responsibility for the crime, but that 
became manifestly impossible in view of the fact that 
many foreigners in Seoul knew the part he played in 
the murder, and the very man who hacked down the 
Queen was Okamoto, one of the two right-hand men 
of Viscount Miura. The Japanese Court of Prelimi- 
nary Inquiries at Hiroshima held a farcical trial of the 
murderers in order to give to the West an impression 
that the guilty were to be punished. But the case was 
dismissed, and Viscount Miura and his accomplices be- 
came national heroes.* The side of the defense, as 
advocated by Mr. Masujima, attorney for Viscount 
Miura, illustrates better than anything else the Japa- 
nese legal conception of justice — that killing is no 
murder when it is done to secure political supremacy. 
Mr. Masujima wrote: 

Whatever may be thought by weaker minds, the re- 
sult of the emeute has been most happy for the peace and 
progress of the world. Had the Queen been successful 
in her conspiracy, all the efforts made by Japan for the 
resuscitation of Korea would have been fruitless. The 
only political party which could reform Korea, and 
thereby maintain her independence, would have been ex- 

*For details of the trial, see Appendix I. 



RELATIONS BETWEEN KOEEA AND JAPAN 47 

tirpated. The Queen was Korean at heart, and was ac- 
customed to violent and treacherous methods. Supported 
by a foreign power in her policy, she was ready to resort 
to any means to execute her program. The promise of 
any foreign assistance to her was inciting and dangerous. 
Such a course of diplomatic procedure must be put down. 
The emeute crushed the mischief. The form of the 
Queen's conspiracy was criminal, and the Japanese Min- 
ister was justified in preventing the execution of the 
criminal attempt. He did only his duty as soon as he 
was in charge of the peace and order of Korea. The 
root of political troubles, the effects of which would have 
lasted for a long time to come, was torn up. Considering 
the class of diplomacy prevailing in Korea, Viscount 
Miura has accomplished only a triumph.* 

Regardless of what the Japanese thought of the 
murder, and in spite of the attempt of the Japanese 
officials to minimize their responsibility therefor, the 
incident did more harm to Japan before the Western 
world than anything else at that time. Realizing their 
mistake, the Japanese Government immediately put on 
the soft pedal. They abandoned their aggressive tac- 
tics and initiated conciliatory methods in their rela- 
tions with Korea. The Korean King was allowed to 
be restored to power, and Count Inouye, a liberal Japa- 
nese statesman, was sent to Korea as Envoy Extraor- 
dinary to smooth things over. This prevented the 
rising of the Korean people against the Japanese. 

In the following year, on May 14, 1896, Japan gave 
her definite pledge to Russia, that " the most complete 
and effective measures will be taken for the control of 
* Published in The Far Bast, February, 1896, Vol. I, p. 20. 



48 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Japanese soshi/' and that the Japanese troops would 
be withdrawn from Korea as soon as there was no 
apprehension of attack on Japanese settlements by the 
angry Korean populace. 

On April 25, 1898, a formal agreement was signed 
between Russia and Japan, the first article of which 
reads: "The Imperial Governments of Russia and 
Japan recognize definitely the sovereignty and entire 
independence of Korea, and pledge themselves mu- 
tually to abstain from all direct interference in the 
internal affairs of that country." * 

Next came the first Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 
January 30, 1903. In it the Japanese Government 
united with that of Great Britain in declaring that the 
sole purpose of the Alliance was to preserve the status 
quo and general peace in the Far East, and that they 
were especially interested in maintaining the territorial 
integrity of the Empire of Korea as well as of the 
Empire of China. " The High Contracting Parties, 
having mutually recognized the independence of China 
and Korea, declare themselves to be entirely uninflu- 
enced by any aggressive tendencies in either country," 
says the opening sentence of the first article of the 
memorable document.^ 

In his rescript, declaring war against Russia in 1904, 
the Emperor of Japan asserted the integrity of Korea 
to be " a matter of greatest concern to the Empire," 
and that the " separate existence of Korea is essential 
to the safety of our realm." A few days later, an 
offensive and defensive alliance was formed between 

"Appendix II, (c). 'Appendix II, (c). 



EELATIONS BETWEEN KOEEA AND JAPAN 49 

Korea and Japan against Russia in the signed protocol 
of February 23, 1904. Article III of the protocol 
contained Japan's pledge: " The Imperial Government 
of Japan definitely guarantees the independence and 
territorial integrity of the Korean Empire.'"" In re- 
turn for this guarantee, and on the strength of the 
alliance, the Japanese army was given the use of Ko- 
rean territory as a base of military operations against 
Russia. The physical labour, the use of the harbour, 
the communication and transportation facilities and 
the resources of Korea contributed no small amount of 
aid in winning the war. And, as the former Emperor 
of Korea said in his letter to the American Govern- 
ment, had Russia won the war " she could have seized 
Korea and annexed her to Russian territory on the 
ground that we were active allies of Japan." ^ 

With all these treaty pledges and official declarations 
of the Japanese Government that Japan was fighting 
to preserve Korean independence, the reader will get a 
clear idea of Japan's seizure of Korea if he could im- 
agine that the American Expeditionary forces, after 
driving the Germans out of French territory, seized 
France as the prize of victory. After the Japanese 
army, with its usual camp followers, the scum of the 
Japanese population, entered Korea, they remained. 
The treaty of February 23, 1904, cited before, was the 
last treaty that the Korean Government made with 
Japan of free will and choice. From that time on 
treaties and agreements were of the " made in Japan '* 

* Appendix II, (c). 

* Congressional Record, August i8, 1919, p. 4194. 



50 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

brand to which the Korean officials were compelled to 
put their signatures at the point of the sword. 
The Japanese officials knew at this time that the ulti- 
mate annexation of Korea was a foregone conclusion, 
and they talked about it freely among themselves. 
But it was as yet a secret to the simple-minded Korean 
officials, who were advised by the Japanese Govern- 
ment, at the time of the Korean-Japanese AUiance at 
the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, to place 
" full confidence in the Imperial Government of Japan, 
and adopt the advice of the latter in regard to improve- 
ments in administration." Japan could have annexed 
Korea outright then. But the Japanese wanted to go 
through the formality of " agreements " so that they 
could say to the world that Korea " voluntarily " sur- 
rendered her sovereignty to Japan. 

How Japan managed these formalities is told by an 
American authority on Oriental Politics: 

Acting nominally as a free agent, but actually without 
an option, Korea agreed, in August, 1904, to engage, as 
financial and diplomatic advisers, Japanese subjects 
recommended by the Japanese, and that all matters con- 
cerning finance and foreign relations should be dealt with 
only after the counsel of these advisers had been taken. 
Furthermore, the Korean Government agreed to consult 
the Japanese Government " previous to concluding trea- 
ties or conventions with foreign powers and in dealing 
with other diplomatic affairs such as granting concessions 
to or contracts with foreigners." 

In April, 1905, came an agreement under which the 
postal, telegraph and telephone services of Korea were 
surrendered into the control of Japan. And in August 



EELATIOJ^S BETWEEN KOEEA AND JAPAN 51 

of the same year it was claimed by Japan and recognized 
by Great Britain, as stated in the renewal of the Anglo- 
Japanese Alliance, that Japan possessed "paramount 
political, military and economic interests in Korea." ^ 

The next month in the Portsmouth treaty of peace 
between Russia and Japan, Russia made a similar ac- 
knowledgment as her war indemnity to Japan. There 
were three nations — Great Britain, Russia and the 
United States — that could have made some objection 
to Japan's absorption of Korea. The United States 
was eliminated as a factor by reason of its having 
acted as peacemaker between Russia and Japan. Rus- 
sia consented to Japan's domination of Korea as her 
war indemnity, Great Britain welcomed the advance of 
the influence of her Eastern ally, so as to checkmate 
the Russian influence and protect the commercial in- 
terests and territorial possessions of the British Em- 
pire in the East, and to concentrate the British fleet 
in the North Sea as a counterbalance to Germany. 
With the foreign obstacles out of the way now Japan 
was ready to take the definite step in destroying the 
sovereignty of Korea. 

Early in November, Marquis Ito, the most distin- 
guished statesman of Japan, arrived in Seoul as a 
special envoy from the Emperor of Japan. On No- 
vember 15 Marquis Ito was received in formal audi- 
ence, and there presented a series of demands drawn 
up in treaty form. They would in effect establish the 
Japanese protectorate over Korea. They provided 

^W. W. Willoughby, "Japan and Korea," The Unpartizan Re- 
view, Februarj', 1920, pp. 26-27. 



52 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

that the Japanese Department of Foreign Aifairs was 
henceforth to have " control and direction of the ex- 
ternal relations and affairs of Korea," and Japanese 
diplomatic and consular officials were to have charge 
of Korean interests in foreign countries; further, 
Japan was to be represented at the Korean capital by 
a *' Resident-General," and by " Residents " at the sev- 
eral open ports or at such other places as the Japanese 
Government might deem necessary. The last article 
provided that " The Japanese Government guarantees 
to maintain the security and respect the dignity of the 
Korean Imperial House." 

The Korean Emperor and his Cabinet Ministers 
were aghast, and the demands were met with blank 
refusal. The conversation between the Emperor and 
the Marquis follows: 

The Emperor said, 

Although I have seen in the newspapers various ru- 
mours that Japan proposed to assume a protectorate over 
Korea I did not believe them, as I placed faith in Japan's 
adherence to the promise to maintain the independence 
of Korea which was made by the Emperor of Japan at 
the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War and embodied 
in a treaty between Korea and Japan. When I heard 
you were coming to my country I was glad, as I believed 
your mission was to increase the friendship between our 
countries, and your demands have, therefore, taken me 
entirely by, surprise. 

To which Marquis Ito rejoined, 

These demands are not my own ; I am only acting in 
accordance with a mandate from my Government, and if 
Your Majesty will agree to the dem.ands which I have 



EELATIONS BETWEEN KOEEA AND JAPAN 53 

presented it will be to the benefit of both nations, and 
peace in the East will be assured forever. Please, there- 
fore, consent quickly. 

The Emperor replied, 

From time immemorial it has been the custom of the 
rulers of Korea, when confronted with questions so mo- 
mentous as this, to come to no decision until all the Min- 
isters, high and low, who hold or have held office, have 
been consulted, and the opinion of the scholars and the 
common people has been obtained, so that I cannot now 
settle this matter myself. 

Said Marquis Ito again, 

Protests from the people can easily be disposed of, and 
for the sake of the friendship between the two countries 
Your Majesty should come to a decision at once. 

, To this the Emperor replied, 

Assent to your proposal would mean the ruin of my 
country, and I will, therefore, sooner die than agree to 
them. 

After five hours of arguing with the Emperor, the 
Marquis left the palace without accomplishing any- 
thing. He at once tackled the Cabinet Ministers indi- 
vidually and collectively. He argued with them; of- 
fered them bribes of immense fortune; threatened to 
kill them if they refused to yield. One of the argu- 
ments used by the Marquis, which might be of par- 
ticular interest to the Western reader, was that the 
union of Korea and Japan would create the basis of a 
great nation, composed of all yellow races, to check- 
mate the spreading influence of the white man who was 



64 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

ever bent to exploit and subdue all other races. Thus, 
the union of two nations would be not only a blessing 
but a necessity for the future welfare of the Asiatic 
peoples. To the Occidental mind the cunning of the 
Japanese is almost incomprehensible. In trying to in- 
duce the Cabinet Ministers to sign the treaty no stone 
was left unturned. Every phase of intimidation, ca- 
jolery, reasoning and bribery was resorted to. Mar- 
quis Ito, Minister Hayashi, Japanese Minister in Seoul, 
and Marshal Hasegawa, the Commander of Japanese 
soldiers in Korea, took their turns in grilling the min- 
isters through this " third degree," using every means 
short of actual violence. But every one of the Min- 
isters stood firm. The Japanese were determined to 
give the Cabinet no time to gather its strength, and the 
grilling went on till the night of November 17 when 
the Cabinet meeting was held in the palace. 

Meanwhile, the Japanese soldiers in Seoul were 
fully prepared to carry out the plans of Marquis Ito. 
The army in the district was mobilized; streets were 
guarded with machine guns ; the field guns commanded 
strategic points; the soldiers marched through the 
streets and around the palace, and the Government 
buildings, fully armed. All this had a sinister mean- 
ing to the Emperor and his Cabinet Ministers. They 
well remembered the fateful night in 1895 when the 
Japanese surrounded the palace of the Queen and mur- 
dered her. Japan had done this before; why could 
she not do it again? ,X 

That night Japanese soldiers and gendarmes threw 
a cordon around the palace where the ill-fated Cabinet 



RELATIONS BETWEEN KOREA AND JAPAN 55 

meeting was being held. The very courtyard of the 
palace was filled with gleaming bayonets of the sol- 
diers, and the rattling of the swords could be heard 
in the Cabinet Chamber. Now Marquis Ito arrived 
with Marshal Hasegawa, Commander of the Japanese 
army in Korea, and demanded an audience with the 
Emperor. This was refused. Thereupon the Mar- 
quis went outside to the Ministers and said, " Your 
Emperor has commanded you to confer with me and 
settle this matter." A fresh attack was started on the 
Ministers. Finally the argument boiled down to 
"Agree with us and be rich, or oppose us and perish," 
and thereupon Marshal Hasegawa, drew his sword. 
" Cut us down if you dare ! " said the Prime Minister 
Han Kew Sul, the ablest Korean statesman at that 
time. " We will show you," retorted the Marshal, 
and the Japanese officers dragged the Premier out into 
a side room. The rest of the Cabinet members 
thought that the Premier was killed, and their turn 
would come next. They had fought for days and 
fought alone. No single foreign representative had 
offered them help or counsel. Now their leader was 
gone, and their cause was a lost one. They saw sub- 
mission or destruction before them. " Nothing can be 
saved by our dying," said one of them. At the end of 
the all-night conference in the palace, three of the 
Ministers gave their signatures to the treaty. The 
Emperor and Premier Han Kew Sul never consented 
to it. 

The news of the signing of the treaty was received 
with horror and indignation by the people. In many 



56 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

places people rose en masse to fight the Japanese, but 
of this I shall speak later in another chapter. The 
literati of the country petitioned the Emperor to annul 
the treaty and punish the traitors. But the three Min- 
isters who gave signatures to the foreclosing of the 
life of their nation were protected by Japanese sol- 
diers; they were the most abject creatures in the land, 
hated even by the members of their own familieis. 
Many high officials, the most distinguished of whom 
was Prince Min Yong Whan, a former Minister of 
War and special Korean Ambassador at Queen Vic- 
toria's Diamond Jubilee, committed suicide as a means 
of protest — an Oriental custom of passive resistance. 
All this carried no effect. Japan had the most invin- 
cible of all arguments — force. The Whang Sung 
News, a Korean daily in Seoul, expressed the senti- 
ment of the people in its editorial as follows: 

When it was recently made known that Marquis Ito 
would come to Korea, our deluded people all said with 
one voice that he is the man who will be responsible for 
the maintenance of friendship between the three coun- 
tries of the Far East (Japan, China and Korea), and 
believing that his visit to Korea was for the sole purpose 
of devising good plans for strictly maintaining the prom- 
ised integrity and independence of Korea, our people, 
from the seacoast to the capital, united in extending to 
him a hearty welcome. 

But, oh! How difficult is it to anticipate affairs in 
\ this world. Without warning a proposal containing five 
clauses was laid before the Emperor, and we then saw 
how mistaken we were about the object of Marquis Ito's 
visit. However, the Emperor firmly refused to have 
anything to do with these proposals, and Marquis Ito 



RELATIONS BETWEEN KOEEA AND JAPAN 57 

should then, properly, have abandoned his attempt and 
returned to his own country. 

******* 
Is it worth while for any of us to live any longer? 
Our people have become the slaves of others, and the 
spirit of a nation which has stood for 4,000 years, since 
the days of Tan-Koon and Kija, has perished in a single 
night. Alas! fellow-countrymen, alas! 

The paper was promptly suppressed, and the editor 
put in prison. 

Korea was Japan's ally instead of an enemy, so it 
was not even a vindictive action on the part of the 
victor. It was a plain case of Japan's breaking her 
sacred pledge and betraying an ally and friend who 
trusted her implicitly in order to carry out her pro- 
gram of imperial expansion. " We must have Korea 
as an integral part of our Empire, regardless of every- 
thing else, so that we may realize our national dream 
of Pan-Asiatic doctrine,'* said Japanese statesmen 
among themselves at that time. Subsequent events 
have proved that they were right.* 

In the summer of 1907 the Emperor of Korea, vir- 
tually a prisoner at the hands of the Japanese, secretly 
sent a delegation to the Hague Conference to appeal to 
the Powers for the restoration of the independence of 

*For fuller details on the establishment of the Japanese Pro- 
tectorate over Korea, see F. A. McKenzie, Tragedy of Korea, 
Chap. XI, " Treaty-making and Treaty-breaking," idem, Korea's 
Fight for Freedom, Chap. V, " The New Era." For Chinese and 
Korean sources on the subject, Park In Sick, The Tragic History 
of Korea (Chinese edition, Shanghai, 1915, and Korean History 
(Korean edition, Shanghai, 1919), prepared by the Korean His- 
torical Commission, are among the best. 



68 THE CASE OP KOREA 

Korea. The envoys failed in securing a hearing, but 
that instance furnished an ample excuse to the Japa- 
nese authorities in Korea to complete their iron rule. 
Pressure was brought to bear upon the old Emperor to 
abdicate in favour of his son, who was mentally defi- 
cient, and whom the Japanese knew they could sur- 
round with controlling influences. Arguments and 
threats were used, the old Emperor was told that if he 
did not consent he and the Royal Family would be for- 
cibly dethroned and perhaps executed. Such threats 
being without sufficient force, the Japanese threatened 
to do dire things to the people and the country. Fi- 
nally, worn out and bewildered, the old Emperor did 
abdicate in favour of this mental incompetent on July 
19, 1907. Five days later, with this mental deficient 
on the throne, Japan published an alleged treaty with 
Korea, by the provisions of which Japan took control 
of all the branches of the Korean Government. The 
Government of Korea must " act under the guidance 
of the Resident-General in respect to reforms in ad- 
ministration ; " it must not " enact any laws, ordi- 
nances or regulations or take any important measures 
of administration without the previous assent of the 
Resident-General." Further, the consent of the Resi- 
dent-General was to be obtained for the appointment 
or removal of high officials, and the Korean Govern- 
ment was to " appoint as Korean officials the Japanese 
subjects recommended by the Resident-General." ^ 
At the time of the establishment of the Japanese 

* For full text o£ the treaties between Korea and Japan, see the 
author's Korean Treaties (New York, ipip)' 



EELATIONS BETWEEN KOEEA AND JAPAN 59 

alleged Protectorate over Korea, the Japanese Govern- 
ment assured the outside world, and especially the Ko- 
rean people, that the Protectorate was more or less a 
temporary measure better to insure peace in the Orient 
and to assist the Korean Government until the latter 
should be more stabilized. Further, it was explicitly 
provided that the Japanese Government should " guar- 
antee to maintain the security and respect the dignity 
of the Korean Imperial Household." Even these 
pledges were swept aside when Japan forced the abdi- 
cation of the former Korean Emperor in 1907, and 
finally annexed the country to the Japanese Empire in 
1910, making it into a province. Chosen. W. W. 
Willoughby, the well-known diplomat and historian, 
commenting on this period of Korean history, says: 

It is evident that Korea had now, to all intents and 
purposes, passed completely under the control of Japan. 
Japanese high officials continued to assert, however, that 
there was no intention upon the part of their Government 
to annex Korea. In 1908 this was publicly asserted by 
Prince Ito, the Resident-General at Seoul. In 1910, 
nevertheless, Japan deemed that the time had come for- 
mally to take Korea unto herself, and this was made 
known to the world in the treaty of August 29.* 

If this whole case of Japan's occupation of Korea 
were put up to an International jurist, his first question 
would be: How did Japan secure this militaristic grip 
on Korea? Under what right or authority, or how 
did she get her armies into Korea in the first place? 

*W. W. Willoughby, "Japan and Korea," The Unpartizan 
Review, January, 1920, p. 28. 



60 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

The reply would be that Japan entered Korea with her 
armies under the treaty of February 23, 1904, which 
provided that: 

Article III. The Imperial Government of Ja- 
pan definitely guarantees the independence and 
territorial integrity of the Korean Empire. 

The conclusion would then be that Japan's original 
entry into Korea and her original possession of Korea 
was that of a guardian taking possession of the prop- 
erty and person of his ward. 

The international jurist would then want to know 
whether Japan has ever surrendered the property back 
to the ward, leaving the ward free to act without coer- 
cion, and the answer would be that she has not, that 
her armies are still there. The next question would 
be: What has become of the property of the ward en- 
trusted to the care of the guardian, and the answer 
would be that the guardian has embezzled and con- 
verted it to his own use. Then would come the final 
question: What has become of the person of the ward? 
And the world will have to answer : Japan is strangling 
her to death. 



Ill 

POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL OPPRESSION 

AFTER the country was formally annexed, all 
the impediments which had hitherto stood in 
the way of Japanese administrative policy 
were swept aside. Extra-territoriality was abolished, 
and foreign residents, who had enjoyed the protection 
of their own Governments, were placed along with the 
Koreans under Japanese laws. General Seiki Te- 
rauchi, the former Minister of War of Japan, came to 
Korea to assume the title of the Governor-General of 
Korea. He is a professional militarist by training 
and experience and an ardent believer in the policy of 
carrying out the will of Dai Nippon by sword and fire. 
He was given unlimited power by the Japanese Gov- 
ernment to accomplish this end. He was made re- 
sponsible neither to the Cabinet nor to the Diet, but 
only to the Emperor of Japan. Nominally, important 
measures adopted by him in his administration of 
Korea had to be approved by the Emperor before they 
became permanent, but not a single act of his was ever 
vetoed by the Emperor. Thus, he was, in practice, 
the lawgiver, the chief executive, the commander- 
in-chief of army and navy, and the highest tribunal. 

With this authority of dictatorship, General Te- 
rauchi promptly reversed the lenient policy of assimi- 
lation first adopted by Marquis Ito, and launched his 
mailed-fist method of moulding Koreans into Japanese 

6i 



62 THE CASE OF KOREA 

— an inferior brand of Japanese — by force and coer- 
cion. " The Koreans must submit to our rule or 
perish," was the slogan of both General Terauchi and 
his successor. Marshal Hasegawa, in their administra- 
tion of Korea. With systematic thoroughness they 
sought to change everything that was Korean into 
Japanese. They even went so far as to change the 
names of places. Thus, Korea became Chosen ; Seoul 
(the capital), Keijo; Pyeng Yang, Heijo; etc., accord- 
ing to Japanese pronunciation of Chinese characters. 
And woe to any one who stood in their way, for a 
mysterious method would soon be found to make him 
" disappear." And in Korea under Japanese rule if a 
Korean incurs the displeasure of Japanese authorities 
and is made to " disappear," he seldom reappears. 

Korean officials in important positions were swept 
aside, and Japanese were introduced to take their 
places. In case Koreans were left in responsible posi- 
tions, which was done occasionally to have a pretext 
in official year books and to show Western tourists 
that Japan allows Koreans a share in the administra- 
tion of Korea, their actions were governed absolutely 
by a Japanese " Adviser " and the Korean Governor 
or Magistrate could not do the least thing without 
the sanction of his "Adviser." In case a Korean 
Governor or a Magistrate disregarded the will of the 
Japanese " Adviser " under him, he would be re- 
moved from his office promptly. From time imme- 
morial every Korean town has elected its own mayor, 
and the Central Government has never interfered 
with this privilege of local self-government. The 



POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL OPPEESSIQN 63 

Japanese have taken away even this right. In a num- 
ber of large cities Japanese mayors were placed in con- 
trol of affairs, and in other cities the local gendarmerie 
(now police) conduct the administration. In a re- 
markable paper prepared by a British resident of 
Korea and presented to the Federal Council of the 
Churches of Christ in America in 1919, the writer 
states : 

It was fondly hoped by Koreans that as the years went 
by and their stronger men acquired more experience and 
were educated under the Japanese administration, the 
higher official positions would be thrown open to them. 
The opposite has been the policy and practice of the 
Japanese. In 1910 six out of thirteen provincial gov- 
ernors were Korean, now there are only three. At that 
time all district magistracies were held by Koreans, now 
at least one-seventh of the largest districts are governed 
by Japanese magistrates, and even in some places the 
village provostship has been transferred to Japanese 
hands. The number of judgeships that have gone to the 
Koreans is very small, and all school principals are Japa- 
nese. The story is the same in every public depart- 
ment. But it is not only in the filling of offices 
that the discrimination appears, but also in the dignity 
and the remuneration attaching thereto. The Japa- 
nese officials of the same rank receive forty per cent, 
higher salaries than the Koreans, and in addition, allow- 
ances for colonial service. This may happen in the case 
of men who graduate from the same school.* 

Laws that govern Japanese subjects in Korea are 
identical with those in Japan proper. But for Koreans 
the Japanese administration applies a different code 
*The Korean Situation (pamphlet issued by the Council), p. 115« 



64 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

of justice. Their explanation is that the Korean is 
not advanced enough to enjoy the high code of legal 
justice as is the Japanese. The laws and regulations 
that govern the minutest phase of the Korean's life 
must be made and administered by the Japanese over- 
lords. And he is not permitted to complain. The 
country is completely covered with a network of offi- 
cialdom, so that not only overt acts, but secret 
thoughts that are in any way inimical to Japanese, 
must not be entertained by Koreans. An American 
writer, who visited Korea after the alleged Reforms 
of 1919 were introduced by Japanese to abolish the 
old abuses, writes: 

Fair promises have come repeatedly both from Tokyo 
and the Governor-General in Seoul, but the reforms have 
been slight. What relief there has been has served only 
to throw into higher light the lack of any change of real 
value, and such as it is, it has been hedged about with 
so many reservations as to be well-nigh meaningless. The 
basic grievances of the Koreans remain untouched. They 
are still at the mercy of the military officials and of the 
numberless police. The most minute phases of their ex- 
istence are still in the absolute control of a multitudinous 
and autocratic bureaucracy: 17,000 officials for a popu- 
lation of 17,000,000, compared with 1,200 in India for a 
population of 300,000,000.^ 

Habeas corpus is unknown in Korea, and every 
man is considered guilty until he proves his innocence. 
The law courts in Korea are a part of the administra- 
tive system under the Governor-General. The ju- 

' Nathaniel Peffer, " Korea," in the New Republic, March 10, 
1920, p. 56. 



POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL OPPRESSION 65 

diciary, instead of being independent and a bulwark 
of liberty for those oppressed by other branches of 
the administration, as it is in America and Great 
Britain, forms a part and parcel of the system. The 
judges, the nominees of the Governor-General, cannot 
be expected, under the circumstances, to be unbiased. 
They have the absolute authority to select the evidence 
they will admit. The defendant has no right to call 
witnesses on his own behalf. He may have a com- 
plete defense and not be allowed to present it. He 
can only make request that witnesses be called, and 
the judges grant the application or not as they see fit. 
The judges' action is not subject to review by a higher 
court. The absurd extent to which this discretionary 
power of the trial judges is carried is illustrated in the 
following judicial decision: 

It belongs to the authority exclusively of the 
judges concerned to decide whether in the trials 
of a criminal case the examination of a given 
evidence is necessary or not. This authority of 
the judges is not to be circumscribed at all by 
the nature, kind or degree of importance of the 
particular evidence. 

This discretionary power of the judges applies also 
to the production of documents or other like evidence. 
Furthermore, the Japanese language is the official 
language of the land, and all court proceedings must 
be carried on in that tongue. In a recent case where a 
British subject was prosecuting a number of Japanese 
policemen and gendarmes for an unprovoked and 
murderous assault, the Japanese interpreter persist- 



66 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

ently spoke of a British passport as a pocketbook, 
presumably to make the crime less obnoxious and 
punishable. If this could occur in open court, where 
the interests of an alien were involved, how often 
must it occur where KoTean interests are involved, 
where the person doing the interpreting is of less high 
standing, and it is known to all that the Korean is 
without redress in case of injustice? Then, all of 
the judges and procurators (state's attorneys) are 
Japanese, for since the annexation a Korean lawyer 
has become a very rare person. In cases where 
Koreans and Japanese are involved, it is a foregone 
conclusion that the Koreans do not obtain a shadow 
of justice. 

Perhaps the worst feature of the Japanese legal 
system in Korea is the judiciary power given to the 
police. Police officers of a dominating power in a 
dependent country are seldom of high calibre. They 
are prone to ride roughshod over the helpless natives. 
But in Korea the Japanese police are given power to 
treat the native as their legitimate victim. The fol- 
lowing extract taken from the Japanese Government 
report, The Annual Report on Reforms and Progress 
in Chosen, will give the reader some idea of the ex- 
traordinary power given to the police: 

The police authorities sometimes have to par- 
ticipate in judicial affairs; to act as public 
bailiffs in distraining property and often to serve 
as procurators in district courts. 

The police authorities can inspect the resi- 
dence of any private individual wherever there 



POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL OPPEESSION 67 

is a suspicion of the concealment of firearms or 
gunpowder, or when they deem it necessary. 

That the authorities thus boldly publish such items 
as this in a book given up to extolling their good works 
in Korea, would seem to indicate an utter ignorance 
that such actions by the police are infractions of hu- 
man rights common to the people of all civilized coun- 
tries. But a comment more to the point is taken from 
the Japan Chronicle: 

In the course of interpellations put forward by a cer- 
tain member in the last session of the Diet, he remarked 
on the strength of a statement made by a public proc- 
urator of high rank in Korea, that it was usual for a 
gendarme, who visits a Korean house for the purpose of 
searching for a criminal, to violate any female inmate of 
the house and to take away any article that suits his 
fancy. And not only had the wronged Koreans no 
means of obtaining redress for this outrageous conduct, 
but the judicial authorities could take no proceedings 
against the offender as they must necessarily depend 
upon the gendarmerie for acceptable evidence of crime. 

The Japanese procurator may assert that such ac- 
tion by the gendarmerie Is usually a gross exaggera- 
tion. There is certainly nothing to prevent such 
abuses, and the statement that the Korean people have 
no redress against the police oppression is literally true. 
Since the police are empowered to search any home 
without warrant "when they deem it necessary," is 
there any reason to assume that they would not do It? 

A most serious phase in the matter of judicial ad- 
ministration in Korea is the fact that the system gives 



68 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

no assurance for justice to any one who may be caught 
in its toils. Nowhere in the whole process has there 
been any attempt to safeguard the innocent, but, on 
the other hand, there are six things that make it prac- 
tically impossible to clear a person against whom a 
case has been made. They are as follows: 

1. The right of the police to arrest without due 
process of law. No warrant is required for arrest. 
Neither the prisoner, his attorney, his family, nor 
his friends have any way of ascertaining the charge, 
if any, on which the arrest and detention is made. 
Bail is not often allowed, and not at all during the 
preliminary investigation. The right of habeas 
corpus is unknown. 

2. Presumption of guilt. Instead of following 
the true legal maxim that " every man is considered 
innocent until proven guilty," the official and popu- 
lar attitude is the very reverse of this, and the Japa- 
nese newspapers refer to the accused as criminals. 
The expression " proving the guilt " of the accused 
is never heard. In case of acquittal, it is said that 
he " proved his innocence " or was pardoned. 

3. Right of counsel is denied. An accused per- 
son is not allowed to talk with a lawyer or with 
others about his defense until after the police investi- 
gation and the hearing before the procurator (prose- 
cuting attorney) has been concluded. During this 
period of investigation the accused is in the hands 
of the police with all access to the outside world 
completely cut off, and the sole object of the police 
is to make a case that will insure conviction. In- 
deed, before a lawyer can participate in the case a 
written record is made up which is used as evidence, 
and in the discretion of the judges may be the only 
evidence that can be introduced at the trial. Under 



POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL OPPEESSION 69 

such circumstances, the accused, being without 
counsel, is in a pitiable situation, for who will shape 
his defense; who will match the trained minds and 
shrewd wits of the officers of the law ; who will keep 
him from being an easy prey to legal traps ; and who 
will there be to challenge illegal acts and procedure ? 

4. Secret police investigation. Here is the very 
citadel of this iniquitous system. It is beyond dis- 
pute that the police use threats, deception and all 
forms of physical and mental torture to secure ad- 
missions of guilt or in their efforts to gain incrim- 
inating evidence against others-. When such admis- 
sion or evidence is obtained, it is reduced to writing, 
signed by the accused, and becomes the basis for 
inquiry both before the procurator and the trial 
judge. One would expect that the court would look 
upon such testimony with suspicion, and that unless 
it was confirmed or corroborated in open court, it 
would be thought an insufficient basis for conviction. 
On the contrary experience shows that it is almost 
impossible to get the judges to give credence to evi- 
dence tending to overthrow false admissions made 
under the pressure of the secret police investigation. 
The police court has practically the determination 
of the guilt or innocence of the accused. The police 
can and do hold accused persons in their custody 
for months without trial or giving them an oppor- 
tunity to consult with counsel or friends. During 
this time they apply such methods as they choose in 
order to secure from the accused admissions of 
guilt. The one official reply to the charge that tor- 
ture is practiced during police examination is that 
the law does not permit of such practice, and there- 
fore, it cannot exist. 

When " police " are thus mentioned it should be 
recalled that this term includes the vast secret serv- 



70 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

ice and espionage system built up by the Japanese 
in Korea, than which a more extensive or oppressive 
system, it is safe to say, does not exist anywhere 
else in the world. 

5. Collusion between police and procurator. The 
procurator acts as prosecuting attorney when the 
case is tried, but in advance of this the prisoners 
are brought before him for preliminary examination. 
After this examination he has the authority to re- 
verse the police findings. However, the police re- 
port quoted above is authority for the statement that 
the police often serve as procurators. In such cases 
the hearing must be mere empty form. A Japanese 
lawyer in the course of his argument on a very im- 
portant case said : " This case convinces me that the ■ 
police and procurators are one and the same." This 
makes the procurators only the mouthpiece of the 
police. Once in the hands of the police, the result 
is a foregone conclusion. 

6. Biased Judges. The process verbal from the 
police court and procurator is used as evidence on 
the trial before the judges. Judges are required to 
familiarize themselves with this record before the 
hearing begins. Thus they form their opinions be- 
fore the defendant or his counsel can be heard. 
Such bias is sufficient to disqualify a juror under 
American or British systems, but in Korea, it is re- 
quired of those who are to be both judge and jury.* 

To this must be added the fact that the accused has 
no right to set up and develop his defense in open 
court as has been referred to. We already have a 

'Taken from an unpublished manuscript prepared by an 
American who has been a long resident of Korea, and who has 
personally witnessed the workings of the Japanese legal ma- 
chinery in Korea. 



POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL OPPEESSION 71 

fairly good outline of the Japanese legal system in 
Korea. If the whole system is thus deficient in theory, 
what could be expected in the way of practical results ? 
Is it any wonder that the Koreans look upon the courts 
as machinery of oppression? The judicial power 
given to the police to execute judgments without trial 
on minor offenses is known as " Summary Judgment." 
The following table will indicate the proportion of the 
number of cases handled by the police in this fashion. 

In 1913 there were 21,483 convictions without a 
trial out of 36,953. 

In 1914 there were 32,333 convictions without a 
trial out of 48,763. 

In 191 5 there were 41,236 convictions without a 
trial out of 59,436. 

In 1916 there were 56,013 convictions without a 
trial out of 81,139. 

The number of those who proved their innocence in 
the years above tabulated were, respectively, 800, 93, 
47 and 30. To quote from the Japanese official report 
for 1916-17, page 126: 

The total number of criminal cases decided during 
the year 1916 by police summary judgment reached 
56,013, involving 82,121 oflFenders, being an increase 
of 14,777 cases and 21,750 offenders over those 
of the preceding year. Of the persons implicated 
in these cases, 81,139 were sentenced, 30 proved their 
innocence, and the remaining 952 were pardoned.* 

It is evident that crime, or what the Japanese consider 

' Quoted by Senator George W. Norris, Congressional Record, 
October 14, 1919. 



72 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

crime, is increasing, and yet the number of those who 
prove their innocence is correspondingly decreasing 
under the Japanese legal system in Korea. That only 
thirty proving their innocence out of 83,121 accused is 
unparalleled in any other legal record in the whole 
world. Especially is it significant when we consider 
that the Korean people are noted for their peaceful and 
patient nature, and that Japan assured the outside 
world that she went into Korea with the professed in- 
tention of uplifting the welfare of the Koreans. 

The secret torture during "preliminary examina- 
tions," and the flogging ministered by the police as 
means of punishment are described in the following 
chapters and are omitted here in the discussion of the 
administrative system. The most powerful witness 
that I can summon to my assistance to corroborate the 
foregoing statements is Bishop Herbert Welch, for- 
merly the President of Ohio Wesleyan University, 
now the Resident Methodist Bishop for Korea and 
Japan, at Seoul, Korea. Bishop Welch's close rela- 
tions with Japanese officials naturally make him very 
conservative in his statements regarding what the 
Japanese are doing in Korea, and, of course, he would 
not say anything over his signature that could not be 
proved beyond all question. Says the Bishop: 

The judicial system prevailing in Korea demands ex- 
tended discussion by itself. . . . The Government- 
General, and, on occasion, the Governor-General, may 
issue laws and ordinances which become immediately 
effective. They are subject to the veto of the throne, 
but are operative until thus countermanded. The estab- 



POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL OPPEESSION 73 

lishment and abolition of the courts are in the hands of 
the Governor-General, who seems, on occasion, to di- 
rect what decisions shall be reached. 

Police summary judgment, as the system is called, dis- 
poses of tens of thousands of cases of minor offenses 
each year. In the last year for which statistics are avail- 
able, 82,121 cases were handled by this plan, which gives 
the power of judgment to police officers rather than to 
any court. Of these, thirty persons proved their inno- 
cence, 952 were pardoned, and 81,139 were sentenced. 
A large proportion of these were punished by flogging. 
The handicaps on the chance of securing justice from 
the Korean courts themselves have been enumerated as 
seven: first, arrest without due process of law; second, 
presumption of the guilt of any person arrested; third, 
no right of counsel until after the first hearing; fourth, 
secret investigations and torture by the police; fifth, 
unity of action between the procurator, who hears the 
case, and the police; sixth, judges biased by the use of 
the written record from the procurator's examination 
before the hearing in their own court begins ; and seventh, 
the power of the judges to give absolute and final deci- 
sion as to the admission of any offered evidence. 

When the various facts to which I have thus briefly 
referred are taken together, it becomes apparent that the 
conditions under which Americans have been willing to 
live in war time are very much the conditions which pre- 
vail in Korea all the time; in other words, that we live 
there under what is practically martial law.* 

* " The Korean Independence Movement of 1919," The Christian 
Advocate (New York), 94: 1006, August 7, 1919. 



IV 
THE OFFICIAL " PADDLE " 

FROM the preceding chapter the reader will have 
formed an idea of the extraordinary judicial 
power in the hands of the police. It was also 
noted that in exercising this power " preliminary ex- 
aminations," conducted before the prisoner is tried 
at all, and " summary judgment," rendered without 
due process of law, sprang up as by-products of the 
system. Secret tortures are applied during " prelim- 
inary examinations" to compel the prisoner to make 
statements that Japanese police call " confessions," on 
the strength of which the prisoner is convicted in open 
court. But this phase of the Japanese administration 
will be dealt with later in the book. In this chapter 
attention is called to the infliction of corporal punish- 
ment in the form of flogging after conviction. 

Flogging is illegal in Japan proper, and it is never 
used to punish the Japanese subjects in Korea. But 
it is reserved as a special favour for Korean prisoners 
— especially political prisoners — ^to wear out the 
morale of the people. The Japanese excuse in main- 
taining this form of barbarous punishment is that it 
was " the old Korean custom." They do not seem to 
realize the incongruity of their pretexts. Their pre- 

74 



THE OFFICIAL "PADDLE'' 76 

text for annexation was to better the condition of the 
Korean people. Their pubUcations and spokesmen 
proclaim loudly all the benevolent reforms that have 
been introduced in Korea. Yet they claim that they 
are retaining flogging, administered only to the 
Korean, because it was "the old Korean custom." 
In that case they are discarding everything that is 
good and worth saving and retaining everything that 
is bad and barbarous. 

Flogging was used by the Korean courts in the past 
only in the case of hardened criminals, where mere 
imprisonment would have little effect. The Koreans 
never used the system of fines. The theory was that 
the rich must pay the penalty and be responsible to 
the law as well as the poor. If fines were used as a 
mode of punishment in criminal cases, the rich would 
have preference over the poor. The entire legal sys- 
tem in old Korea was based on custom and precedents 
similar to the English Common Law. Justice was 
simple, and criminals were rare. Flogging was used, 
but it was never used on such an extensive scale as at 
present by the Japanese, nor to such a severe degree. 
Indeed, flogging In the old Korean court, compared 
with the present day Japanese flogging In Korea, was 
like a mild rash to cholera. The nature of the flogging 
administered by the Japanese police can better be as- 
certained by reading the following description given 
by Dr. Frank W. Schofield, a Canadian medical mis- 
sionary to Korea, who has made an extensive Investi- 
gation of the system and its effect upon Korean vic- 
tims. 



76 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

The methods employed by the Japanese in dealing with 
the Korean agitators have not only been severe, but un- 
necessarily brutal and barbarous. Their object has 
been to terrorize, and this has been well accomplished. 
I was talking to a bright young lady this morning, a 
school-teacher. She told me how she had been thrown 
to the ground by her hair, kicked all over and then tied 
to a tree from 10:30 in the morning to sundown — all for 
calling ManseV This by a supposedly educated Japa- 
nese gendarme ! I saw an old man two days ago whose 
three sons and three grandsons were taken out of his 
house, tied in a row and then bayoneted to death for 
shouting, " Long Live Korea." He begged the soldiers 
to kill him, but they refused. He is now going insane. 
Think of it! The youngest grandson was only fifteen 
years old. But these are the methods employed by mili- 
taristic Japan in maintaining law and order amongst an 
unarmed people. I saw a schoolgirl who had a sword 
cut on her back ; she had been attacked by a high officer. 
I have seen a boy whose leg was burnt with hot irons 
to make him give information, and a man who was hung 
up by one finger to the ceiling for the same purpose. 
Two women were killed; one shot and the other sabred 
because the officer said they were stubborn and would 
not obey orders. Their orders were to go home while 
the Japanese troops murdered their husbands. 

But I am going to tell you about something else — 
police beatings ; eleven thousand people have been beaten 
by the police since this movement for Independence. 
First, let us clearly understand what is meant by the 
term "police beating." The instrument of beating is a 
special bamboo rod, made by tightly tying together with 
hemp twine a number (two or more) of bamboo strips; 
this gives the necessary flexibility, when bruising and not 

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THE OFFICIAL <* PADDLE '» 77 

breaking the tissues is desired. The form or rack used 
in beating is made something hke a cross, so that the out- 
spread arms of the criminal can be tightly secured. The 
trunk and legs are also fastened in a way which makes 
motion impossible. The individual to be beaten is firmly 
secured on the cross; the clothes removed from the 
region of the buttocks, and the rod laid on according to 
the strength of the men who administer the punishment. 
Before such a procedure, there is supposed to be an ex- 
amination of the patient by the police doctor, but this 
does not often happen. 

Let me recite to you the story of Mr. Sur — just as he 
gave it to me. Take time reading it. Try and pass 
through his experience; then coolly make your decision 
— civilized or uncivilized ? 

The Demonstration: " I am a native of Kangkei, a 
small town amongst the mountains, and being so far 
away from the town where demonstrations for Inde- 
pendence had occurred, we were late in starting. How- 
ever, we planned for a real good demonstration on April 
the 8th. We had given out circulars, and had made all 
arrangements; then at the given time from one end of 
the town to the other all shouted, * Long Live Korea.' 
We had no weapons, sticks or stones, but the police, with- 
out any warning, opened fire on us, killing four and 
wounding eight. This violent attack scattered us, and 
ended the demonstration. Two women were down by 
the river washing after this had happened, when two 
soldiers walking past, without provocation, fired; the 
younger woman was shot through the head, the second 
shot whizzed past the ear of the other woman and scared 
her badly. The soldiers did not fire any more but went 
away. 

Arrest and Beating: " On April 22nd I was arrested, 
and after being kept some days in jail, was sent on to 
New Weiju with ten other young men. We had our 



78 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

trial at Weiju on May 4th, and were all recommended 
to get six months' imprisonment. On May nth we re- 
ceived our sentence, which had been altered to a police 
beating of ninety blows. Thirty blows were to be given 
on three successive days. Realizing what this meant we 
all appealed, but were told that there was no such thing 
as an appeal from a police beating ; that we must take it, 
and we would soon be home again. Our remonstrance 
was useless ; we had to submit and were made to put our 
finger prints to a document, saying that we were satisfied 
with our sentence and were justly punished. 

" Beatings were given on May i6th, 17th and i8th — 
thirty strokes on each day. The policemen beat us up to 
the limit of their strength. They would lift up the foot, 
and leaning well back, would bring the cane down with 
tremendous force. Frequently, three policemen would 
administer the punishment. One man would give ten 
strokes, then another, and finally, a third would admin- 
ister the last ten. The pain was terrible, especially the 
last two beatings. Blood was drawn at the first beating, 
and yet we knew that we had more to come. The ex- 
pectation was in itself terrible, apart from the physical 
suffering. After the second beating our flesh was like 
jelly, and pain on receiving the last thirty strokes was 
frightful. On May i8th we were given the last beating 
and were turned loose. We could hardly walk, but finally 
managed to get to a cheap boarding house. There is a 
Japanese hospital in town, but we would just as soon 
go back to jail as to go there. We were not allowed to 
go to the Danish Hospital, as this was across the river 
at Antung in China. I went out and brought some 
Korean medicine which we used, but with no success. 
Six of the boys seemed to be seriously ill ; they could not 
eat, could hardly stand, and were suffering most terribly. 
On the afternoon of May 22nd, we decided that we would 
go to the Mission Hospital at Syen Chun, some two 



THE OFFICIAL ' ' PADDLE ' ' 79 

hours' ride on the train. I could walk fairly well, but 
some of the others were in a terrible condition, so with 
two of the stronger men, we three brought the six very 
sick men down to the hospital. They had great difficulty 
in getting on the train, and of course, could not sit down, 
but had to lie along the seat. Arriving at Syen Chun, we 
got the men off the train, and on wagons brought them 
up to the hospital." 

This is briefly the story of the lad given to me on May 
25th. I will continue the story of these cases from the 
statement of those who nursed them at the hospital. 

Nurses' Statement: Mr. Pak — "he was a young man of 
twenty-one, a graduate of the Kangai Middle School 
and had been employed as language teacher to a newly 
arrived missionary. He was never a very strong man — 
slender in form and delicate, but mentally bright. We 
operated on him early May 23rd, removing large pieces 
of gangrenous tissue. Peritonitis had already set in, and 
he passed away in great pain about twelve o'clock the 
same day. The greater part of the buttocks had become 
gangrenous. Death was due to septic peritonitis and 
exhaustion from excessive pain." 

Mr. Kim — " he, also, was from Kangkei, a well put to- 
gether husky young man of nineteen years. He was in 
terrible pain, groaning constantly. The operation 
seemed to help him quite a little, and he begged to be 
operated on again. His buttocks were frightfully in- 
fected, and much dead tissue had to be removed. While 
coming out of the anaesthetic, he constantly shouted, 
* Long Live Korea,' * Long Live Korea.' At times he 
seemed to be better, but peritonitis developed, and on 
Sunday, May 25th, he died. His brother, who had been 
summoned, arrived a few hours before he passed away. 
On seeing his brother, he called out, * I shall get well 
now that you have come; let's have a talk,' Constantly 
during the afternoon he would bite at the tips of his 



80 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

fingers. I did not know for what reason, and, of course, 
pulled his hand away from his mouth. Just before he 
died, he again made a great effort and managed to get 
his little finger into his mouth but had not the strength 
to bite. He looked at me so anxiously, but I could not 
think what he wanted, so offered him a sip of water 
which he refused. He whispered, ' I don't mind dying, 
but I had hoped to see my country free first.' Then an 
elder, who was standing near, prayed and asked him if 
he knew Jesus, to which he said, * Yes,' then closing his 
eyes he passed away. I afterwards found that he was 
trying to bite off the tip of his little finger, so that he 
could write the oath of Independence in his own blood as 
many a patriot had done." 

A Japanese police doctor saw the corpse and remarked, 
" They should have known that a man like this (Mr. 
Pak) could not have borne such punishment." He also 
warned the doctor in charge not to state in the death 
certificate that he had been beaten to death, but to say 
he had died of peritonitis. 

The jailer at New Weiju was most annoyed when he 
heard that the boys had gone to a Mission Hospital, es- 
pecially when two had died. He said that they could 
not have died of the beating. It must have been the op- 
eration. 

The boys were buried together the following morning. 
The crowd of people sobbed with grief, and although 
overcome, it was all they could do to stop shouting once 
more, " Long Live Korea." A Korean flag was secretly 
placed upon the coffin, so after all they were buried like 
Korean patriots. 

The world would never have known about these lads 
had they not gone to an American hospital. God only 
knows the hundreds who have been beaten, shot and 
bayoneted, to crawl home and die unattended and un- 
known. Is there no Japanese Red Cross, you ask? Oh 



THE OFFICIAL "PADDLE" 81 

yes, we read of its activities sometimes in the local press, 
but its presence is only camouflage. Except in the case 
of Suwon, I never heard of its helping any poor Korean. 
These Christian boys are shot to be killed, not to be 
succoured and nursed back to health. 

The Beaten Boys: I went to see and photograph the re- 
maining four who from the first had been so sick. They 
presented an awful sight; their backs were raw and 
bleeding; large areas of the skin and underlying tissue 
had sloughed away. Every time the nurse touched the 
raw surface, the exposed muscle fibres twitched, and the 
poor fellows groaned in agony. The doctors held out 
hope for three of them, but the fourth was awfully sick ; 
peritonitis was evident, and he being a weak lad, had 
little chance to fight his way through. You ask if beat- 
ings like this are common. Well, since the agitation for 
Independence, there have been eleven thousand people 
beaten. At first the authorities gave them only twenty or 
thirty blows each, but recently many have been receiv- 
ing thirty blows in each of the three successive days. 

My God! What pain and suffering these people do 
endure at the hands of their barbarous overlords. The 
skinned slaves of bygone days were happy compared 
to these people. They were born into slavery and ex- 
pected nothing better, but these poor folks were born 
free, only to find themselves enslaved in an Egyptian 
bondage. 

I have spoken to many educated and respectable Japa- 
nese about these brutal beatings and as to why it is not 
done to Japanese, and why it is continued in this day 
when humanitarian principles govern more and more 
the acts of people ? The answer is always the same, " Oh, 
don't you know it is an old Korean custom?" I asked 
how they would like the Government of Japan to revert 
to some old Japanese customs in governing their people ? 
Such questions, they reply, are foolish. Japan does not 



82 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

do wrong, and if you think she does, you are anti- Japa- 
nese ; you are a wicked alarmist. 

The truth is this; the militaristic Japanese are still 
uncivilized and barbarous at heart, and so one constantly 
sees his real brutal, naked self appearing. 

In this manner hundreds of thousands of Koreans 
have been flogged. An American resident of Korea, 
who is a close student of the Korean situation, writes: 

In the Government report for 191 3, the number of per- 
sons flogged after police trial is two-thirds of the entire 
number of persons put on trial. This item has not been 
published since, but using that as a basis for estimating 
the total number flogged by the police as a punishment 
for crime from 1913-1918 would be 294,000 persons, or 
about one to every fifty-nine Koreans in the land, includ- 
ing men, women and children. The courts also sentence 
to corporal punishment, but no statistics available, this 
number cannot be ascertained. 

This estimate of the American resident in Korea is 
not far from actual facts. It is my information that, 
from January 1, 1913, to July 1, 1920, the so-called 
" convictions " of Koreans by the Japanese courts and 
by the " summary judgment " of the police, were 
616,839, or one Korean in each thirty. The sentence 
of flogging was pronounced and administered to 278,- 
087, or one Korean in each sixty-six. This is the 
" Record " made by Japanese. If we add, as we must, 
the thousands who have been flogged " unofficially " 
and with no record made, the estimate of the Ameri- 
can resident from which I have quoted is no doubt 
very conservative. 



THE OFFICIAL "PADDLE" 83 

From March 1, 1919, when the " Mansei " demon- 
strations began for the Independence Movement to 
July 20 of the same year, the number flogged by order 
of the gendarmes at " summary judgment " is 9,078, 
and that by order of the court, 1,514, making a total 
of 10,592. An editorial in Japan Weekly Chronicle, 
" The * Paddle ' in Korea," makes an amazing reve- 
lation of the Japanese practices in the Hermit King- 
dom: 

We have hitherto seen no reference in the Japanese 
press, for instance, to the subject of flogging, but we are 
glad to see that the Seoul Press has admitted to its col- 
umns a letter on this subject from a foreign resident in 
Korea, and, while the editor mildly deprecates the 
charge of cruelty made, he expresses agreement with the 
desire to see this form of punishment abolished. It is 
one of the official assumptions in Japan that the Japa- 
nese have a great sense of personal dignity. As an ob- 
servant traveller once said, " There is no false modesty 
in Japan, but a terrible lot of false dignity." False or 
not, it is undoubtedly there, and we are told that the 
exclusion of flogging from the penal code is out of re- 
spect to this sense of dignity. It appears, however, that 
the Korean has no sense of dignity — at least, it is not 
respected, though General Hasegawa lately declared that 
it was only in matters of temporary administrative neces- 
sity that there is any difference recognized between 
Koreans and Japanese. It seems a fairly effective kind 
of racial discrimination. It was apparent to General 
Hasegawa that the writer of the complaint in the Seoul 
Press addressed an inquiry as to why this barbarous 
method of punishment was still used in Korea, and he 
received, through an interpreter, the reply, " Flogging 
is an old Korean punishment which we, like yourself, 



84 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

who are educated, look upon as a barbarous method of 
punishment, but if we were to immediately do away with 
such a custom, it would cause a great deal of trouble 
and discontent amongst the Korean people. You must 
remember that we can govern only in accordance with 
the will and desire of those whom we govern." 

A statement like this invites a good deal of comment. 
One is tempted to ask whether it is the will and desire 
of the people that those who had been in the enjoyment 
of occupancy of Crown lands for many generations 
should be expropriated without compensation ; whether it 
is the will and desire of the Koreans that they be for- 
bidden to start any joint-stock enterprise without Japa- 
nese partnership directing it; whether they love to be 
regulated in all sorts of details of their personal lives 
and livelihood on a rigid Japanese plan instead of the 
free and easy plan which they prefer and understand, 
but which the Japanese police do not like. Do they like 
being compelled to learn Japanese and being forbidden 
to travel abroad? In these and a hundred other mat- 
ters the administration has shown not the slightest desire 
to consider the wishes or even the rights of the people, 
but we are told that the people so like being flogged by 
a Japanese jailer with a barbarous weapon that the sys- 
tem cannot be abolished. This is perfectly well under- 
stood by those who devised this abominable punishment 
— or, if it is not, they ought to try it for themselves. 
And again, the authorities who profess to mitigate the 
severity of the punishment by converting it into an ex- 
quisite torture — with tortures of suspense and anticipa- 
tion between — also refuse to believe that men have died 
as a result of it. 

But enough has been said to show how foolish is the 
policy pursued, and how entirely unfit are the men in 
authority to pursue the task of reconciling the people to 



THE OFFICIAL '' PADDLE " 85 

a change which was forced upon them. The miUtary ad- 
ministrators seem utterly unable to conceive that the 
people for whose welfare they are responsible have any 
feelings at all, and they apparently fancy that everything 
that is right to their military minds must, also, appear 
right to the Koreans unless they are willfully recalcitrant. 
Their very excuses in this matter of flogging — that the 
Koreans insist upon having it, that to prolong the agony 
mitigates it, that it is only fatal if the victims of it are 
so foolish as to employ a Korean doctor to treat their 
wounds — show that they are incompetent to perform the 
task with which they are entrusted. But it must be 
understood that the mere appointment of a civilian in- 
stead of a soldier is not enough. A civilian with irre- 
sponsible powers and soldiers at his beck and call may 
conceivably be worse than a man who has had experi- 
ence of war. 



V 
PRISONS AND PRISON TORTURES 

IF there ever were a place on earth that could be 
called hell, it is the Japanese prison in Korea. 
When John Bunyan wrote his Pilgrim's Progress 
two hundred and forty-six years ago, he did not know 
that he was, in his description of the sufferings of the 
Faithful, prophesying the fate of the Korean political 
prisoners at the hands of the Japanese torturers in the 
twentieth century. The horrors and atrocities being 
committed by the Japanese officials are beyond belief, 
and their counterpart is found nowhere in the history 
of the world. The most tortuous period of the Czarist 
Russia never witnessed their equal. The Mediaeval 
Inquisition was terrible, but it did not embody that 
scientific cruelty which the Japanese prison torturers 
in Korea employ, especially in dealing with political 
prisoners. 

After a man has been arrested he is not permitted 
to see his friends or relatives or consult a lawyer until 
he is brought before the judge for trial. He may be 
kept indefinitely in prison and released without trial. 
During the confinement the prisoner is compelled to 
go through what is known as " preliminary examina- 
tions." This Japanized "third degree" is illegal in 

86 



PEISONS AND PEISON TOETUEES 87 

Japan proper, nor is it practised on Japanese prisoners 
in Korea, but it is reserved for Korean prisoners, es- 
pecially political prisoners,, as a special favour. During 
the " preliminary examinations," unspeakable tortures 
are inflicted upon the prisoners, not by way of punish- 
ment after conviction, but in order to extract evidence 
by which to convict, which means that the innocent are 
tortured equally with the guilty. 

Men- and boys were trussed and suspended from the 
ceilings so that their weight hung on the shoulders. 
Thus they were raised and lowered till unconscious. 
They had their fingers pressed over red hot wires. Their 
naked flesh was lacerated with sharp hooks and seared 
with hot irons. Toe nails were torn from the flesh with 
pincers. Men were placed in a tight box and then 
screwed up. They were tied up, their heads forced back, 
and hot water or a solution of water and red pepper 
poured down their nostrils. Slivers of wood were shoved 
far under their finger nails. They were flogged until they 
had to be taken to hospitals, where big slabs of gangre- 
nous skin had to be cut off. In many cases they were 
flogged to death. And some kinds of tortures employed 
are unprintable. This was not done once or twice, but it 
was done repeatedly for days and nights, hours at a time, 
until the victim confessed, whether he had anything to 
confess or not. There are cases where men have said 
yes to anything, ignorant even of what they had ad- 
mitted.' 

Dr. J. W. Hirst, of Severance Hospital at Seoul, 

related to me when he was in America in April, 19 SO, 

that in his hospital alone, during the year of 1919, 

they had treated seventy-six cases of gangrene and 

* Nathaniel Peffcr, The Truth About Korea (pamphlet), p. 24. 



88 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

skin grafting — all of whom were victims of the " pre- 
liminary examinations." 

Seldom, if ever, a man completely recovers from 
the effects of these tortures; many die in prison, and 
still more die after release. Those who survive be- 
come cripples for life. The following story of " a 
slender, timid. Christian youth, nineteen years old, em- 
ployed by a shoemaker," charged with circulating the 
Independent News, and forced through the " prelim- 
inary examination" at the police station, illustrates 
the fate of thousands of other prisoners. This story, 
as told by an American missionary, who is an eye 
witness, was made public along with other incidents 
at the New York Headquarters of the Presbyterian 
Church in America, on July 13, 1919, with the com- 
ment that : 

What is reported here can be duplicated in scores of 
places in Korea, and some of the reports thus far re- 
ceived are even more harrowing than the ones we re- 
port. But, as they have not been definitely established 
by competent witnesses, we omit them, but confine our- 
selves strictly to incidents which are known beyond the 
shadow of a doubt to be true. 

The Missionary's Testimony 
" Word came to me soon after this that our shoe boy 
had been frightfully beaten and would die. ... I 
went to see him yesterday at the hospital, 

"The only reasons which can account for his being 
there are either that the police did not want him to die 
on their hands or wanted to prolong his torture, for he 
is miraculously recovering. I entered by the main office. 



PEISONS AND PEISON TOETTTEES 89 

presented my card, and was shown to his room without 
any police interference, at which I was greatly surprised. 
I went in and saw a very sallow, sick boy — what must he 
have looked like five weeks before ? ., , . 

" The following is his story. ... It certainly is a 
miracle that he is living. On the day following his ar- 
rest he was questioned about complicity with the Korean 
Independence Movement. On refusal to reveal aught of 
the affair he was subjected to six hours of * examina- 
tion' spelling constant torture, for his arms were put 
into rings above the elbows until the upper body was 
greatly distorted — the usual preparation for beating. 
Beating and kicking were then administered until he 
fell fainting to the ground. He was given cold water to 
drink, and water was poured over his body to bring him 
to consciousness. Then more questions were plied, but 
the same refusal to reveal facts followed. Then physical 
collapse. 

" I saw one sear on the upper part of the leg. It had 
been seared some five inches in length with a red hot 
iron. Of these he bears four, I saw the dead skin line 
of the welts that had been raised by blows on his hands. 
One hand, he said, had been swollen to twice its normal 
size. Two joints of one finger and two finger ends 
showed plainly the tale was all too true. His head is still 
sore from the blows received. 

" Shortly, the doctor called on his regular rounds and 
seemed to take great pains in examining him. Turning 
to me, he said his chest and lungs were better. Was it ex- 
posure to cold that made his chest sore ? No. He pulled 
his clothing down to examine further, and I saw that his 
whole abdominal region had been involved. A wound 
— whether by bayonet thrust or doctor's incision I do 
not know — seemed to be healing. The doctor began by 
pressing, but after thirty-three days this boy was unable 
to endure even a slight touch from chest to groin and 



90 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

from hip to hip. An ice bag was at his head for fever, 
body was quite wasted to the bone, and he was able onlj; 
just to raise himself to a sitting posture. 

*^ During the four days of torture and the subsequent 
two days of suffering at the police station a physician 
had been admitted to see him only three times. He was 
expecting to die and begged them to kill him. But God 
had another plan. After twenty days in the hospital he 
has hopes of recovery. 

" I rode in a ricksha, as I had little time, and delivered 
him some eggs, apples, milk powder, a clean cover for his 
pillow and clothes. The transformation was wonderful, 
for the clothes he had on had the marks of his experi- 
ences from the first. A Korean nurse was in attendance 
during the visit ; the reason I understood later. 

" His soiled clothes were rolled up ready to take along. 
We had prayer, and I rose and was leaving the room 
when a coolie confronted us outside the door. He spoke 
to the sick boy and said, ' You must wait ; you must not 
go.' About me he said I should go to see somebody. 
Imagine, please, what they were trying to work up against 
me — that I was trying to get the boy away in my ricksha. 
I was in for arrest. 

" He calmly strode into the main office. Over a half 
hour elapsed ere anything happened. Imagine my ter- 
rible plight ! I had purchased fish for dinner, and guests 
were expected. There really was little time to spare. 
However, I dispatched a woman with the fish and a note, 
and sat down to wait in patience. For the last thing to 
do in the Orient is to get flustered. 

" I certainly was the object of much attention. I won- 
dered how many soldiers would come to take me away, 
and whether they would let me ride or make we walk. 
Finally, my amused meditations were broken, not by 
khaki-clad, armed soldiers, but by a plain clothes Japa- 
nese detective, who had come in to interview me. I told 



PEISONS AND PEISOF TOETUEES 91 

him all that I knew, and he was exceedingly mild towards 
me, when I tell you he was the one who at the police sta- 
tion almost tortured our shoe boy to death. He is the 
acknowledged spy on all foreigners and the official tor- 
turer of our schoolboys. 

" The interview was brief ; he saying that the sick boy 
was yet a prisoner and that hereafter, if I wished to visit 
him, I must first apply to the police for permission. It 
was like thin ice, seeing how far I could go without 
breaking through. I was really disappointed, for I 
thought I was going to get inside the jail for sure. A 
community 'phone call had been sounded, announcing 
that I was missing, and a member of the legal committee 
was about to set out for the police station when I re- 
turned. 

" We foreigners enjoy little freedom, nor are we safe 
under the present Japan and United States agree- 
ments. ... 

" This case is not an isolated one. Scores, hundreds, 
of similar cases could be cited and fully substantiated. 
Every police station is a veritable hell on earth. Every 
human refinement in brutality is known there, and such 
brutality is perpetrated as would blister the tongue to 
utter. Men are known to have been beaten to death, and 
their bodies handed over to their relatives to bury. Others 
have been beaten until crippled for life, and then re- 
leased, to be a burden on their families until the day of 
their death. . . . 

" Note that the shoe boy had been in the hospital 
thirty-three days already when the interview was held. 
When will he be ready for trial ? Still, it is understood 
that he is to receive nine months in the penitentiary. 
This was practically decided by the police officers even 
before he was brought to trial. The court simply goes 
through the form of trying him, and sentences him as the 
police have suggested. 



92 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

" Occasionally, instead of imprisoning the men, they 
are let off with only ninety blows of the bamboo rod ; and 
that this is no light matter you may well imagine. No 
man could endure it all at once, so the ninety blows are 
administered thirty per day for three successive days, A 
large number of cases now coming to the private hos- 
pitals are of men who have been thus beaten until they 
are nearly done for. 

"All this in a land which boasts before the world of its 
thoroughly acquired modern civilization, an associate of 
the great allied nations of the world. , . . When 
will such mockery as this end and men be called what 
they really are ? " * 

But by far the worst feature of the Japanese prison 
system in Korea — something for which the Koreans 
will never forgive the Japanese — is the treatment of 
women. Refined and cultured Christian young 
women, many of them college graduates, were dragged 
into prison on tlie charge either of being members of 
the Women's Patriotic League or of cheering for Ko- 
rean freedom, and were subjected to unspeakable in- 
sults and indignities. The following signed statement 
by an American resident in Korea, dated April 23, 
1919, made public by the Presbyterian Church in 
America, referred to above, speaks for itself: 

" The examination of women, who have been arrested 
for activity in the Independence Movement, is the most, 
disgraceful and humiliating possible. It will have to be 
remembered, however, that the Japanese feel no shame 
when nude in the presence of the other sex. On the other 
hand, the Korean and Chinese women have the same 

* New York Times, July 13, 1919. 



PEISONS AND PEISON TOETUEES 93 

feeling of delicacy as Europeans. They feel intense 
shame when seen by another. 

" The Japanese know this, and so, when they put the 
Korean women in the question box — this, mind you, is 
before they are condemned at all — they are stripped ab- 
solutely naked. They are stripped, not after they go to 
the room where they are questioned, but in their rooms 
of confinement, and that by gendarmes. 

" From here they have to walk across an open court 
where they can be seen by any one who pleases. Some- 
times they are accompanied by a Japanese female, and 
sometimes not. It might also be said that each time they 
wash they have to take off the thin kimono which they 
wear in prison and stand naked before others while 
washing. 

" Their arraignment is before men, of course, and the 
chief part of the examination is to make the pain of the 
humiliation just as intense as possible. Unmarried girls, 
as well as Bible women who have lived in homes of re- 
finement and who have been used to nothing else than the 
courtesies due their sex, are thus outrageously treated. 
They are called bad women in the most revolting terms 
just because they have shouted in the street : * Hurrah 
for Korea ! ' 

" Some women, who tried to cover themselves, had 
their hands tied behind them. One Bible woman had her 
arm wrenched out of its socket by this process. . . . 

" But this is not all. Some were kicked in the stomach 
and otherwise roughly treated by these fiendish men. 
Some of us have heard terrible tales about the German 
treatment of women in Belgium and France, and, though 
the awful depths have not yet been reached here, we see 
the training of the same school. 

" In one section of the country the women are not 
safe in their homes during the day. They spend the day- 
time in the hills, and come to their homes only at night. 



94 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

" The Japanese are great sticklers for the truth when it 
comes from others. So let others read and understand. 
We have here sworn statements from women thus treated 
which can be produced when needed." 

Girls from Christian colleges fared the worst, and 
many of the girl prisoners were released without trial 
after indecent grilling. They made sworn statements 
to their American teachers and missionary friends. 
These independent statements are all similar tales. In 
the summer of 1919 at the Methodist Centenary Cele- 
bration at Columbus, Ohio, a returned missionary 
showed me six such testimonies collected from differ- 
ent parts of the country from witnesses who had never 
seen each other before. They make one's blood boil. 
" Were the conditions as they actually are to be fully 
reported, the report would be too horrible to relate," 
said my informant. The mass of documents on the 
Korean situation, laid before Congress and printed in 
the Congressional Record, July 17, 1919, touches this 
phase of the conditions in Korea. I have selected two 
statements from that issue of the Record, made by girl 
prisoners — one in Seoul and the other in Pyeng Yang, 
and subjoin them herewith. From these the reader 
may judge for himself the fate of other Korean 
women prisoners, thousands of them, in different parts 
of Korea. 

One is by a girl prisoner from Ewa Hakdang, the 
American Methodist College for girls in Seoul: 

It v/as on the 5th of March that I, with others, for the 
liberty of our land, formed into a procession at the South 



PEISONS AND PEISON TOETUEES 95 

Gate. As we neared the Palace, a Japanese policeman 
seized me by the hair, and I was thrown violently to the 
ground. He kicked me mercilessly, and I was rendered 
almost unconscious. He rushed me along by my hair, 
and I was led to the Chongno Police Station. At the 
entrance of the police office twenty or more Japanese 
policemen, who stood in line, kicked me and struck me 
with their swords and struck me in the face so many 
times that I did not realize whether they were beating me 
or some one else, 

I was led into a room. They dragged me on the floor ; 
they struck me in the face; they struck me with their 
swords ; they flung me into one corner of the room. At 
this point I must have been unconscious, as I do not re- 
member what happened after that. 

On recovering my senses I found myself in a room 
packed with young men and women. I saw some of 
them handled so brutally it almost broke my heart. After 
some time we were cross-examined. I was made to kneel 
down with my legs bound together, and each question 
and answer was accompanied alternately by blows in the 
face. They spat in my face, this with curses and invec- 
tives of the worst kind. 

I was ordered to expose my breasts. When I refused 
they tore my upper garments from me. They tied my 
fingers together and jerked them violently. I shut my 
eyes and dropped down to the floor. Thereupon, the ex- 
amining officers uttered an angry roar and ordered me to 
kneel down as before, then rushed at me, seizing me by 
the breasts and shook me violently. 

He said, " You want independence, eh ? Preposterous 
thought! You will get independence when you are 
locked in jail. Your life will vanish with the stroke of 
the sword." He shook me fiercely by the hair. But he 
was not satisfied even with this, so he beat me on the head 
with a stick. He made me extend my hands and hold up 



96 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

a heavy chair. If I let it drop, he would strike my elbow 
with a stick. He made me kneel down near a window 
pane ; he would come and ^strike me. An hour or so 
passed in this manner, when I was told to go down-stairs. 
I found that I could not walk. I crawled on the floor 
with much difficulty, even with the help of one of their 
professional spies who followed me. As I made the first 
step my strength gave out, and so I rolled down stairs. 
I was again unconscious. 

On recovering my senses I crawled into a room. The 
policeman in charge of the room was very much amused 
to see me crawling. He laughed loudly at my misery. I 
spent five days in all at the police station. Then I was 
sent to the West Gate penitentiary. There I was stripped 
naked and was looked at by the men. Then I was al- 
lowed to put on my dress and was led into a room. I 
was sneered at and cursed beyond my power to realize. 
In this room there were sixteen persons who were like 
myself. The room was not very large, and wp were 
densely packed together. The toilet arrangements were 
placed in the open room. 

On the second day a person called the police doctor 
and several others came in and weighed me stripped 
naked. They, too, sneered and spat upon me. Now and 
then I was told by the keeper there that I would be tried 
publicly. I looked forward to that with a great deal of 
consolation, as I thought I would have some chance to 
state my case without reserve, but I was let out one day 
without trial and without being told the nature of my 
offense, or indeed, that there had been legal offense. 

The second statement is given by a Christian girl in 
Pyeng Yang, who is twenty-one years of age: 

I was arrested on the streets of Pyeng Yang the 3rd 
of March and taken to the police station. There were 
many others, both men and women. They asked us if 



PEISONS AND PEISON TOETUEES 97 

we smoked, if we drank, and if we were Christians. 
Soon all were let out with little or no punishment, with 
the exception of twelve Methodist women, two Presby- 
terians and one Chundokyo woman. Three of the Meth- 
odist women were Bible women. They stripped all of 
the women naked in the presence of many men. They 
found nothing against me except that I had been on the 
street and had shouted, Mansei. They beat me until the 
perspiration stood out all over my body. Then they said, 
" Oh, you are hot," and then threw cold water over me. 
Then they stuck me with the lighted ends of their ciga- 
rettes. 

My offense was considered very little compared with 
those who made flags, or took part in the independence 
parade. Some were beaten until they were unconscious. 
One. young woman resisted having her clothes taken off. 
They tore off her clothing and beat her all the harder. 
After four days we were taken to the prison. Here we 
were packed in a room with men and women. One day 
an old man was beaten until he died. One of the Bible 
women was chained next to him. She asked to be moved, 
but they compelled her to watch the dead body all night. 
One of the Bible women not only had her hands bound, 
but had her feet put in stocks. They would not allow us 
to talk or pray. They made vile and indecent remarks 
to us. 

All this was done by the Japanese. Though there were 
Korean policemen in the room they took no part in the 
beating or in the vileness. The Japanese know the Bible 
and blaspheme the name of Christ, and asked us if there 
was not a man by the name of Saul who was put in 
prison. They asked us most of all as to what the for- 
eigners had said and were most vile and cruel to those 
who had been with the missionaries, or who had taught 
in the mission schools. Some of the girls were so 
changed that they did not look like human beings. 



98 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

These disgusting instances of official lechery should 
be read with the consideration that in Korea female 
modesty is a matter of religion. Many thousands of 
Koreans have embraced Christianity, and behind that 
they have thousands of years of tradition calling for 
exaggerated chastity on the part of both men and 
women. The opportunity of combining business with 
pleasure, and oppression with satisfaction, was not lost 
upon the Japanese police. The Korean has a very 
high ideal of womanhood, and to be courteous to the 
weaker sex is his inborn trait. The women prisoners, 
some of them from best families in Korea, were 
subjected to indignities that would make the German 
soldiers in Belgium and Northern France blush with 
shame. The Japanese officers called them unspeakable 
names, accused them of being pregnant. " You can 
cut us .open and see," retorted one of the girls. Some 
of the women arrested were compelled to kneel down 
on the floor and hold a heavy board at arm's length for 
hours. They were beaten whenever their arms trem- 
bled. One girl bowed her head to pray, and she was 
punished by three hours' standing. "As to what we 
girls passed through in heart during the ordeal makes 
us weep with agony," said one of the girls in relating 
her prison experience to her American teacher, " but 
as we did it for our country, we took the shame of it 
gladly. Had it been for any other cause we would have 
died first." ' 

^ Two testimonies other than I have given above were printed 
in Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.) November 25, 1919, 
under the title, " Korean Girls Suffer Japanese Prison Torture." 




Like the courageous Biblical Esther, who delivered her people trom per- 
secution, the Korean girls not only have exhibited the spirit of supreme sacrifice 
and devotion to the cause of the freedom of their people, but also have denipn- 
strated a remarkable degree of courage and resourcefulness in their participation 
in the national movement. 



PEISONS AI^D PEISON TOETUEES 99 

After relating some of these tales In a magazine 
article— "The Jap Hun— Read His Record!" C. V. 
Emmons comments: 

No business of America's ? If this is the behaviour of 
Japan for a few months when she was showing the world 
her best behaviour — what is her record for the years she 
has ruled in secret? If she does these horrors upon 
people of her own colour — what would she do to another 
race? If her art and civilization and Occidental ideals 
let her act like this in peace — how will she act in war? * 

Where actual beating and torture are not employed, 
the prisoners are subjected to treatment repulsive in 
the extreme. Compelling prisoners, men and women, 
to bathe together in filthy water, is one of them. " We 
had to bathe, 140 persons in one tub," said one of the 
girl prisoners. "The water was so dirty, and it 
smelled so bad it made me dizzy." Apologizing for 
the Japanese officials for this phase of their treatment 
of the Korean prisoners, Peggy Hull, the girl war 
correspondent of the Newspaper Enterprise Associa- 
tion, on her return from the Far East in August, 1919, 
adds after relating the prison conditions in Korea: 

In fairness to the Japanese I must say that in their 
own country men and women use the same dressing 
rooms and bathe indiscriminately in the same tub without 
regard to sex. They even go calling on their neighbours 
during the bathing hour and apparently think no more of 
the proceeding than we would of brushing our hair. Ko- 

* C. V. Emmons, " The Jap Hun — ^Read His Record," in Uncle 
Sam (New York), a monthly published for service men, by Guy 
Empey, January, 1920. 



100 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

rean women, however, are extremely modest, and no such 
freedom of intimacy exists in Korean homes/ 

Filth and congestion are another feature of Japa- 
nese prisons in Korea. Japanese and Korean pris- 
oners are separated in different quarters; Japanese 
being placed in rooms well lighted, ventilated and 
heated in winter, with only a few in a room, and Ko- 
reans huddled together in cells worse than dungeons. 
Prison conditions in old Korea may have been bad, but 
could not possibly have been as bad as now under 
Japanese rule. During the wholesale arrest of men 
and women in Seoul, March, 1919, in one of the 
prisons five women had to sleep under one quilt in- 
fested with vermin. In another prison " sixty people 
were confined in a room fourteen by eight feet, whfere 
they had to stand up all the time, not being allowed to 
sit or lie down. Eating and sleeping, they stood lean- 
ing against one another. The wants of nature had to 
be attended to by them as they stood. The secretary 
of one of the mission schools was kept for seven days 
in this room, as part of sixteen days' confinement, be- 
fore he was released." ^ William R. Giles, the Peking 
correspondent of the Chicago Daily News, was in 
Korea April, 1919. In one of the prisons in Pyeng 
Yang he found more than thirty prisoners in one 
room, ten feet by six. During torture periods the 
prisoners were taken out to examination rooms which 

* Peggy Hull in San Bernardino Index (San Bernardino, Calif.), 
August 8, 1919. 

* F. A. McKenzie, Korea's Fight for Freedom, p. 285. 



PEISONS AND PEISON TOETUEES 101 

are quite spacious. And to add hypocrisy to brutality, 
" an official Japanese journal recently published an 
article about the Korean prison declaring it to be equal 
to a health resort and almost as well equipped as a 
technical school." ^ 

" The prisons . . . have been left unheated 
during the bitterest weather of winter. This has 
caused suffering and loss of life," says Bishop Herbert 
Welch.' Dr. J. W. Hirst, of Severance Hospital at 
Seoul, told me in April, 1920, that during the winter 
of 1919 four of the nurses of his hospital, arrested for 
shouting Mansei, had their hands and feet frozen and 
another one had her face frozen. The following let- 
ter, written by a Presbyterian missionary in Pyeng 
Yang, Korea, dated February 25, 1920, to A. W. 
Gillis, of Los Angeles Bible Institute, gives a clear 
idea of the prison conditions In Korea. After describ- 
ing the loyalty of the Koreans to their faith despite 
official persecution, and hopeful prospects of the 
Church, the writer proceeds: 

******* 

Along with these encouraging reports have come others 
that have made our hearts sad with a mixture of right- 
eous indignation. From the East Coast a telegram came 
yesterday to Dr. Blair saying that the Government offi- 
cials in that district are persecuting the Christians, and 
interfering with the forward movement. Another tele- 
gram came the day before yesterday announcing that 

* Peggy Hull, in San Bernardino (Calif.) Index, August 8, 
1919. 

^Central Christian Advocate (Kansas City, Mo.), May 12, 1920, 
p. II. 



102 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

several women Christians in a church in Dr. Blair's ter- 
ritory had been arrested and charged with praying for the 
sick. The pastor of their church came into Pyeng Yang 
yesterday and reported that the police there had called 
him in and ordered him to sign a paper promising not to 
pray for the sick again. He refused and told the police 
that he had been praying for the sick all his life and that 
he intended to continue to do so. Thousands of natives 
are in prison charged with complicity in the Independence 
Movement. Many of these are Christians, as the Japa- 
nese are particularly zealous in arresting Christians, 
though they are no more concerned in the movement than 
the non-Christians. The Christians in prison remain 
steadfast to their faith and hold prayers morning and 
evening, in spite of the Japanese. Those who have come 
out of prison have reported conditions in the prisons that 
are almost unbelievable, yet they all tell the same story, 
and sufficient proof has been collected to make it abso- 
lutely certain that what they say is true. These condi- 
tions exist to-day, months after the so-called reforms 
have gone into effect. We have had a very cold winter 
with the thermometer registering as low as fifteen de- 
grees below zero F. Yet in the coldest weather there 
have been almost no fires in the prisons. I say " almost " 
because in a few prisons, in the halls of the hospitals, 
there have been a few small stoves that have kept the 
temperature of the halls (not the rooms of the hospital 
where the patients are) up to a few degrees below freez- 
ing. In the majority of the prisons, by the admission of 
the Japanese officials themselves, there have been no fires. 
Some men and women in prison have actually frozen to 
death. I shall be specific. Last week we had several 
days of zero weather. A man who came out of prison 
a day or two ago reported to Dr. Moffett that the man 
who was sleeping beside him was frozen to death. No 
one knows how many others have shared their fate. We 



PEISONS AKD PEISON TOETUEES 103 

know that many have had their hands and feet frozen, 
because we have seen their hands and feet after they 
came out of prison. But you say that this does not show 
any particular animus or cruelty on the part of the Japa- 
nese. Perhaps, but it is an interesting commentary on 
their civilization and boasted claims of reform. But let 
me cite a few more facts. Last Wednesday was a zero 
weather day, and to make it worse there was a bitter wind 
blowing that made it almost impossible to walk outdoors. 
I know because I tried it. Yet that night the Japanese 
made a woman, whose term in prison expired that day, 
walk a half mile through the snow in her bare feef, from 
one prison to another, just for the purpose of going 
through the red tape of setting her free. And this after 
her sentence had expired ! In the prison both men and 
women are forced each night to remove all their clothes 
in one building, and then run across a court for about a 
hundred feet through the open air, naked, to their sleep- 
ing quarters, where they put on their cold night clothing 
and sleep under insufficient cover in unheated rooms. In 
the morning they remove their nigh.t clothing in their 
sleeping quarters, run naked back across the court, under 
the open air, then put on their day clothes which have 
been in an unheated room all night. Please bear in mind 
that the women, as well as the men, are forced to do this, 
and that it is the regular routine no matter how cold the 
weather. At meals the prisoners are divided into eight 
groups, according to the work they do. The first group 
are given the most food, and this only about half enough 
for an ordinary meal such as they have been accustomed 
to. The next group receives less food, the third still less, 
and so on down to the eighth group, which receives the 
least amount of food of all. The women are in the 
seventh group. A boy who was in the fourth group told 
me he was hungry all the time. You can imagine how 
the poor people in the eighth group suffered for the lack 



104 THE CASE OF XOEEA 

of food. No food can be sent to the prisoners from the 
outside after they have been sentenced. 

One of the most refined bits of torture to which the 
prisoners are subjected is by a prison rule which compels 
them to sit on the ground in Japanese fashion instead of 
according to the Korean custom. The Korean custom is 
to sit down, cross their feet and tuck them under the 
body. The Japanese custom is to kneel and then sit back 
on their heels. If you think this is anything less than 
torture for a person not accustomed to it, try it for half 
an hour ! The Koreans, who are no more accustomed to 
it than we are, are forced to sit that way for hours at a 
time. 

^K *!* H^ 5|5 5|e sjc 3(1 

But what is the result on the Koreans ? The men and 
women who have been subjected to this treatment in 
prison come out more determined than ever to fight for 
independence to the bitter end. Boys who went into the 
March demonstrations for fun come out of prison the 
sworn enemies of the Japanese. 

Since writing the above, new facts have come to my 
attention which I feel that I must mention. I 'said above 
that the Japanese claim to have abolished torture since 
the new regime went into power. Since writing the sen- 
tence referred to, the following new facts have been 
called to my attention. A man, who was sick and deliri- 
ous in a hospital, was arrested while in that condition, 
taken from the hospital to the police court, put in a cold 
room, then removed to a warm room until he became con- 
scious, then taker! to court for examination. Upon re- 
fusing to tell what he was asked to tell about others en- 
gaged in the Independence Movement, he was sent back 
to the cold room for ten days, and then, when about to 
die, was put out of prison, and died the next day. But 
before his death he told his own and the following stories. 
He said that the day before he was turned out to die. 



PEISONS AND PEISON TOETUEES 105 

another man, a theological student, was put into the room 
with him in an almost dying condition. This theological 
student had been subjected to all kinds of torture. 
Among other things he had three kettles of water poured 
into his nostrils to force him to confess the names of 
those connected with the Independence Movement! 
Please bear in mind that this happened, not last year, but 
within the last two weeks, since the first day of February, 
1920! And the Japanese claim to have abolished tor- 
ture! Another man recently released from prison re- 
ports that four men were recently frozen to death. A 
Korean friend told me to-day that all the men in prison 
now have frozen feet. One of our best and most spir- 
itually minded pastors, moderator of Presbytery, is in 
prison for a sentence of two years because the people at 
a funeral service, which he was conducting over a man 
who had been shot by the Japanese gendarmes, shouted 
" Mansei ! " We have just heard that this man has his 
feet frozen, and that they are in such a condition that he 
is likely to die there in prison ! 

I am telling you these things because there is a per- 
sistent propaganda being carried on by the Japanese in 
American newspapers to convince the American public 
that they have reformed conditions in Korea. I hope 
you will use your influence to publish these facts as 
widely as possible, both in the newspapers and in the 
public gatherings. Use my name in confidence, if you 
wish, but see to it that it is withheld from publication. 
Sincerely yours, 



Presbyterian Missionary in Korea. 



VI 

ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 

IT is asserted by Japanese and their spokesmen in 
America that Nipponese rule in Korea has been, 
a material boon to Korea, and that the Land of 
Morning Calm is economically better off to-day than 
ever before. But what is meant by " better " ? Who 
has paid for these improvements, and who is to bear 
the burden of the debt created to make them ? Is the 
average individual Korean any better off to-day than 
he was before ? 

Those to whom the assertion is made should also be 
told that Japan has increased the national debt of 
Korea from practically nothing, $368,356.50 to be 
exact, to the sum of $52,461,82Y.50 at the close of the 
year 1918. Has increasing the national debt one hun- 
dred and forty-three times " bettered " the economical 
condition of Korea? 

It should also be known that Japan has Increased 
the taxes collected from lands and property owned by 
the people from $3,561,907.50 per annum, in 1905, to 
$19,849,128 In 1919. Is the individual Korean any 
" better off economically " because he pays five and 
one-half times as much tax under Japanese rule, with- 
out independence, freedom and representation, as he 

io6 



ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 107 

did under Korean rule with freedom and independ- 
ence ? 

This " bettering process," this great " material 
boon " has cost Koreans in excess taxes $66,386,098, 
and has increased the burden of their debts $52,093,- 
571, a grand total of $118,479,669, which ought to do 
quite a little " bettering " and should create a " boon " 
of considerable size. 

Yet no Japanese, in the wildest flights of imagina- 
tion, will say that more than $75,000,000 has been 
spent in Korea for public improvements since Japanese 
occupation. As a matter of fact, the total, compiled 
from the Report on Reforms and Progress, published 
as a part of Japanese propaganda, is $66,649,735, 
This total includes at least one-third extra for graft 
and corruption fund. For instance, the railroad ex- 
tensions are charged up as costing $75,000 per mile 
that could not by any possibility have cost over $35,000 
per mile, considering that right of way costs and 
labour costs were negligible quantities. A valuation 
commission, with most liberal views, could not fix the 
actual cost of all these boasted improvements and 
betterments at over $40,000,000. 

Is it economically good practice to spend $118,479,- 
669 for improvements and betterments that are in- 
trinsically worth but $40,000,000? Japan has spent 
millions in Korea in military domination, but this 
overhead expense has no bearing on the material im- 
provements of the country, and the Koreans cannot be 
made to pay or account for the cost of their oppression. 

It is true that roads have been built, streets widened, 



108 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

sanitation improved, telegraphic and postal communi- 
cations extended and afforestation encouraged. But 
the Korean people have paid for them, and Korean 
virgin forests have been devastated at a hundred fold 
greater rate than afforestation has been accomplished. 
Furthermore, a close examination of the material im- 
provements made in Korea reveals that only such 
improvements have been made as would profit Japa- 
nese. What benefits the Koreans have received are 
incidental and accidental, and the Japanese Govern- 
ment has taken proper measures to reduce even these 
to a minimum. 

Japan knows how to show her bright spots and put 
the best foot forward. Thus, there were erected and 
maintained in show places to impress strangers elabo- 
rate public buildings far in excess of the economic 
strength of the nation. "The Japanese take good care 
to advertise various improvements in Korean life," 
says one writer who knows Japanese methods ; " in 
Seoul there is a great display hall which houses a 
graphic representation of Korea rejuvenated, showing 
highways substituted for muddy lanes, over which 
little brown-clad postmen are bearing the mail to every 
hamlet, and Koreans are jogging along in their wooden 
carts bringing to far-away markets the products that 
hitherto they could sell only in their villages. The 
main carrying trade, however, is now almost wholly 
In the hands of the Japanese." '' 

In order to use Korea as a base of military opera- 

* Sidney Greenbie, " Korea Asserts Herself," Asia, September, 
1919. P- 922. 



ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 109 

tions in case of war on the Asiatic mainland, Japan 
has built splendid roads throughout the length and 
breadth of Korea. They are the kind of roads of 
which Barney Oldfield himself could not complain. 
But they are strictly military roads built without re- 
gard to utility to the Korean people. A recent Ameri- 
can visitor to Korea finds these splendid roads in the 
remote districts in Korea, where they are of no com- 
mercial or communicational value to the Korean. In 
describing one of them, the American traveller com- 
ments : 

So perfect a road made the empty plateau look more 
desolate than ever. The dwellers in these squalid huts 
would never have built it ; neither would the people of the 
valleys who used it only occasionally when they bartered 
with the people in the valleys beyond. The crooked trail 
that we could half make out in the rough grass at the 
side of the big road would do very well for such meager 
trade as the far-away town on the other side of the pass 
demanded. Just what, then, did the road mean? 
Korea's commerce did not necessitate it. This highway 
could be but one thing — a military road to fortify a con- 
queror's power."* 

The de luxe trains on the trunk line that run from 
Fusan to Mukden are quite equal to the Broadway or 
Twentieth Century Limited. The average globe- 
trotter cannot but be impressed with this magnificent 
system of communication. But he is utterly ignorant 
of the grim tragedy that lies behind the building and 
maintaining of these roads. Every inch of Japanese 

'Alice Tisdale, "A Korean Highroad," Asia, XX, 789-794, 
September, 1920. 



110 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

roads and railroads is built upon confiscated property 
without a cent of compensation and by Korean la- 
bourers who are compelled to work without pay. 

Prior to the annexation of the country, " Military 
Necessity " was the pretext used by the Japanese in 
confiscating private property ; now it is " Eminent 
Domain." Regardless of the name they choose to 
give to this governmental robbery, the effect is the 
same to the Korean — loss of property without compen- 
sation. Imagine the predicament of a Korean in the 
city whose house has been torn down by the Govern- 
ment in order to widen the street and who is deprived 
of his home and property without compensation, or 
that of farmers commandeered without pay during the 
busiest time of the harvest season to build a military 
road for which they have no use. This is the fate of 
Koreans wherever material improvements have been 
made, and yet the Japanese take the praise to them- 
selves. 

To the credit of Japan she has one man among her 
scholars who denounces this system of confiscation and 
forced labour practised by the Japanese Government 
in Korea. This is none other than Dr. Yoshino, the 
eminent professor of the Imperial University of 
Tokyo, who made a trip to Korea in 1916. In an 
article published in the Chuo-Koron of Tokyo, Dr. 
Yoshino wrote on this phase of Japanese administra- 
tion in Korea: 

Without consideration and mercilessly they have re- 
sorted to laws for the expropriation of land, the Koreans 
concerned being compelled to part with their family 



ECOI^rOMIC EXPLOITATION 111 

property for nothing. On many occasions they have 
also been forced to work in the construction of roads 
without receiving any wages. To make matters worse, 
they must work for nothing only on the days which are 
convenient to the officials, however inconvenient these 
days may be to the unpaid workers. 

This is generally the method by which the Japanese 
Government in Korea has brought about the material 
improvement and for which they ask credit and praise. 
" New roads are good, but the Koreans, who have 
built them, without proper remuneration, at the point 
of the sword in great gangs of forced labour, do not 
appreciate them," writes an American resident in 
Korea. " Japanese salaries for men in the same work 
throughout the whole Government system are twice 
what Koreans get. And yet, it is the Koreans who 
pay the taxes. The progress is fine, and the ship rides 
high on the wave, but it has become unbearable to the 
galley slave in the hold." ^ 

This system of bringing about material improve- 
ment is not only unjust and costly to individual Ko- 
reans, but there is the injustice found in the wholesale 
confiscation of lands to give them to Japanese immi- 
grants, and in the relentless discrimination practised in 
commerce and industry by the Government in order to 
reduce the Koreans to economic serfdom. With no 
anti-Japanese sentiment, Professor T. A. Crane of 
Pittsburg University writes in the New York Times: 

It was my opinion when I was in Korea, and is my 
* The Korean Situation, pp. 106-107. 



112 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

opinion still, that it is Japan's intention that all the Ko- 
reans shall be practically serfs, pursuing only the trades 
of farmers and artisans, leaving to the Japanese immi- 
grants the administration of Government, the mercantile 
and banking trades, and other more profitable callings. 
In other words, Korea is being exploited altogether for 
the benefit of the Japanese with little thought of any 
obligation to the natives. 

The total wealth of the country has been Increased 
since Japanese occupation, but the economic status of 
the Korean is worse than it was under the old adminis- 
tration. Over one million and a half Koreans have 
emigrated to China and Siberia since Korea became a 
part of Japan, not only to avoid the military tyranny 
of the Japanese, but also to escape this economic pres- 
sure brought upon them by that rule. 

Under the Korean Government all land was divided 
into four classes: (1) Private lands owned by private 
individuals; (3) Royal lands belonging to the King, 
but sometimes leased in perpetuity to private indi- 
viduals, with the right of selling to another individual 
without changing the ownership and the privilege of 
inheritance; (3) Municipal lands, the title to which be- 
longed to the various municipalities, but the practical 
ownership of which was in the hands of private indi- 
viduals; (4) Lands belonging to Buddhist temples. 

Owners of private lands paid taxes to the Govern- 
ment; holders of royal lands paid tribute to the royal 
household ; owners of municipal lands paid fees to the 
respective municipalities which held the title of lands; 
and the lands belonging to Buddhist temples were free 



ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 113 

from all taxation. These temple lands were held ac- 
cording to a communistic plan among the Buddhists. 
When the Japanese annexed Korea, they surveyed the 
country and confiscated all lands belonging to the 
royal household, to the municipalities and to the Bud- 
dhist temples, on the technical ground that since these 
lands did not belong to private individuals, they must 
be the property of the Government. This sweeping 
confiscation made many thousands of formerly well- 
to-do Koreans paupers. After the land was thus con- 
fiscated by the new Government it was leased or sold 
to Japanese farmers, not to Koreans. 

The policy of the Tokyo Government is to induce 
a large body of Japanese to settle in Korea so that they 
should form a body strong enough to hold Korea in 
the event of an armed protest on the part of the 
Korean people. There are over 300,000 Japanese in 
Korea, and the number is increasing steadily. 

When Bismarck wanted to Prussianize Poland, he 
moved several million Germans into German Poland 
to help assimilate the Poles. Money was appropriated 
by the German Government to buy land from the Poles 
for these newcomers. The Poles clung to their lands 
and refused to be assimilated, with the consequence 
that the price of land in German Poland went up, and 
the Poles became prosperous. 

Japan pursued the same policy In a more efficacious 
way. The Oriental Development Company was or- 
ganized under the direction of the Government to 
carry on this peaceful penetration of Korea. Its pur- 
pose is to promote Japanese colonization in Korea and 



114 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

to develop the uncultivated lands in the peninsula. But 
its practice has been, and is still, to dispossess the 
Koreans of their property by illegitimate methods and 
to carry on the Governmental exploitation of Korea 
at the expense of the Korean people. The following 
illustration, which is one of the many subtle methods 
employed by the Company to get hold of the Korean 
property, will make clear to the reader the workings 
of this semi-official corporation. 

Rice is the chief agricultural product in Korea, and 
water which irrigates the rice fields runs from one 
field to the other in succession. The agents of the 
Oriental Development Company buy the rice patch 
through which water must run to the other fields in 
succession. The Japanese agent or " farmer " cuts 
off the water supply to the other fields. The Korean 
farmer complains to the Japanese authorities, who 
blandly ignore him. The Korean is then told that since 
his land has become worthless, he might as well sell it 
to the Oriental Development Company, at the price 
the Japanese will pay, not what the Korean farmer 
would ask or what the land is worth when he can get 
water. By these and equally illegitimate methods the 
Oriental Development Company has acquired, and is 
still acquiring, thousands of acres of the best lands in 
Korea. The Koreans know the game of the Govern- 
ment, but they have no means to counteract it. And 
woe to the Korean who dare oppose by physical force 
any of the agents of this Company, or any Japanese, 
for that matter, for his property will be subject to 
confiscation, and his life will be jeopardized. There 



ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 115 

are many cases where the Koreans were shot by Japa- 
nese soldiers, because they attempted to protect their 
home and property from the agents of Japanese ex- 
ploiters. Already one-third of the best land in Korea 
is in the hands of the Japanese and the amount is in- 
creasing rapidly. 

Koreans, who are thus despoiled of their home and 
land, are compelled to emigrate into the wilds of 
Manchuria and Siberia to seek a livelihood. " Among 
the most pathetic sights in Seoul," observes one Ameri- 
can, " are the groups of men, women and children, 
with their little possessions, waiting at the by-stations 
for trains to the outer world." ^' By far the majority 
of Korean emigrants make their journey on foot. Al- 
though the Japanese authorities do not allow Koreans 
to depart to other parts of the world, they encourage 
Korean exodus into Manchuria and Siberia for two rea- 
sons: (1) to make room for the Japanese immigrants 
into Korea; (2) to scatter Koreans into these regions 
so that Japan can have a claim on these regions on the 
pretext of " protecting " her Korean subjects and sta- 
tion her soldiers by what Putnam Weale calls " In- 
filtration Tactics." ^ The suffering and hardship that 
these Korean emigrants undergo in their exodus is best 
described by Rev. W. T. Cook of the Manchurian 
Christian College at Moukden. 

* Sidney Greenbie, " Korea Asserts Herself," Asia, September, 
ipig, p. 922. 

^ Cf. Putnam Weale, " Forces Behind Japan's Imperialism," 
New York Times Current History, II, pt. 2 : 165-168, January, 
1920. 



116 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

The untold afflictions of the Korean immigrants com- 
ing into Manchuria will, doubtless, never be fully realized, 
even by those actually witnessing their distress. In the 
still closeness of a forty below zero climate in the dead 
of winter, the silent stream of white clad figures creeps 
over the icy mountain passes, in groups of ten, twenties 
and fifties, seeking a new world of subsistence, willing to 
take a chance of life and death in a hand-to-hand struggle 
with the stubborn soil of Manchuria's wooded and stony 
hillsides. Here, by indefatigable efforts, they seek to ex- 
tract a living by applying the grub axe and hand hoe to 
the barren mountain sides above the Chinese fields, plant- 
ing and reaping by hand, between roots, the sparse yield 
that is often insufficient to sustain life. 

Many have died from insufficient food. Not only 
women and children, but young men have been frozen to 
death. Sickness also claims its toll under these new 
conditions of exposure. Koreans have been seen stand- 
ing barefooted on the broken ice of a riverside fording 
place, rolling up their baggy trousers before wading 
through the broad stream, two feet deep, of ice cold 
water, then standing on the opposite side while they 
hastily adjust their clothing and shoes. 

Women with insufficient clothing and parts of their 
bodies exposed, carry little children on their backs, thus 
creating mutual warmth in a slight degree, but it is in 
this way that the little one's feet, sticking out from the 
binding basket, get frozen and afterwards fester till 
the tiny toes stick together. Old men and women, with 
bent backs and wrinkled faces, walk the uncomplain- 
ing miles until their old limbs refuse to carry them 
further. 

Thus it is by households they come, old and young, 
weak and strong, big and little. . . . 

In this way over 75,000 Koreans have entered during 
the past year, until the number of Koreans now living in 



ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 117 

both the north and western portions of Manchuria now 
totals nearly half a million/ 

So much has been said by the Japanese themselves 
and by pro-Japanese writers in America about the 
currency reform in Korea as a distinct credit to Japa- 
nese administration that it may not be amiss for me 
to say a word concerning it. After the annexation of 
Korea by Japan in 1910, the Japanese Government 
established a semi-official financial trust in Korea in 
the Bank of Chosen. This Government bank is the 
depository of all Government money, and it stands in 
relation to the Japanese Government as the Bank of 
England stands in relation to the English Government, 
with the difference that the former has a stranglehold 
on the business enterprises of the Koreans, while the 
latter promotes the business interests of Englishmen. 
This unofficial treasury works in cooperation with 
other Japanese banks in Korea — the First Bank (Dai 
Ichi Ginko) in Seoul and the Agricultural and Indus- 
trial Banks located at the various trade centers 
throughout the country. Korean banks are required 
to hire Japanese " advisers," who have the controlling 
power in the management, and their reserves are kept 
in the Bank of Chosen, which cannot be taken out 
without the consent of the officials of the said institu- 
tion. Thus, Korean banks are under the thumbscrew 
of this Government trust. 

All the Korean money made of nickel, copper, 
bronze and alloys of silver and gold, to the amount of 

* Report to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. 



118 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

about 14,000,000 yen ($7,000,000), was collected and 
taken to Japan, and paper money substituted in the 
form of worthless currency. As a matter of fact, all 
currency in Korea is practically worthless, for it is not 
backed by any reserve. The Bank of Chosen, with its 
capital of 30,000,000 yen, had outstanding notes at 
the close of the fiscal year ending October 1, 1918, 
amounting to 81,317,000 yen. At that time the total 
liabilities of the bank were 114,291,000 yen, which in- 
cluded the 81,317,000 yen outstanding bank notes, 
3,000,000 yen borrowed and 29,974,000 yen due to 
depositors, while its total assets, including loans, good, 
bad and indifferent, cash on hand and resei*ve did not 
exceed 76,000,000 yen, showing a deficit of over 38,- 
000,000 yen.^ The bank would be closed in Japan 
proper, because insolvent. But in Korea it is per- 
mitted by the Japanese Government. No gold and 
very few silver yen are to be found in the country. 

In order to meet the demands for circulating me- 
dium less than a yen, the Bank of Chosen has issued 
notes In denominations of ten, twenty and fifty sen, 
equivalent in American money to five, ten and twenty- 
five cents. Again, this is a special provision for Korea, 
as currency for less than a yen is not used in Japan 
proper. The total amount of this petty currency Is- 
sued by the Bank from June 12, 1916 to October 1, 
1918 is 1,023,610 yen. 

* Figures taken from the Review of Recent Events in Korea, 
issued by the Government General, January, 1919, in the Jap- 
anese language, for the exclusive use of the Japanese ofScials 
in Korea, pp. 310-312. 



ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 119 

One eloquent evidence that the bank notes circulat- 
ing in Korea are worthless is the fact that they are not 
honoured in Japan proper. Japanese claim Korea to 
be an integral part of their empire, as much as the state 
of California is an integral part of the United States, 
yet they flood the country with currency which is 
neither redeemable nor legal tender in Japan. 

In order to insure absolute financial supervision, 
every wealthy Korean is required to have a Japanese 
steward, whose function is that of the household ac- 
countant and financial adviser combined. This Japa- 
nese steward keeps account of the income and expen- 
diture of the household. A Korean cannot spend his 
money without the knowledge and sanction of this 
steward, who is really his master, as he has the Gov- 
ernment authority back of him. Thus, the late Em- 
peror Yi of Korea nominally received the annual grant 
of 1,500,00 yen ($^750,000) from the Japanese Gov- 
ernment after Korea had been annexed. But, in 
reality, he had no more money at his disposal than a 
Korean coolie. If a wealthy man spends any signifi- 
cant sum of money without the sanction of his Japa- 
nese steward, his property is liable to confiscation on 
the charge that he may be working against the Govern- 
ment. I know of many cases where confiscation of 
property has taken place on the strength of charges 
made by these Japanese stewards. In 1915, Major 
Cho, a very wealthy Korean, founded a Korean school 
in Peking to educate Korean youths in China. The 
Japanese authorities brought charges against him of 
plotting against the Japanese Government and con- 



120 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

fiscated all his property. Under the right of extra- 
territoriality, the Chinese Government was unable to 
give the Korean its protection. 

Another rule that runs in conjunction with Japa- 
nese stewardship is the fact that no Korean is per- 
mitted to draw from his bank account more than a 
thousand yen at a time. In 1911 a Korean financier 
in Seoul, by the name of Yi Kil Sang, had deposited 
one million yen in Dai Ichi Ginko (First Bank). He 
wanted to draw 100,000 yen, and was refused on the 
ground that no sufficient reason was given for draw- 
ing that much money. He applied to the authorities, 
only to be brushed out by underlings. He got frantic 
and made some ugly representations. He was branded 
as being a dangerous character, and his money was 
confiscated by the Government. 

The Japanese explanation of this rule Is that if a 
Korean were permitted to have much cash, he might 
plot against the Government. Perhaps he would. 
But this regulation works economic discrimination 
against the Korean. If the Korean merchant needs a 
thousand dollars in cash to buy merchandise, he cannot 
get the money under this regulation, with the result 
that his chance to buy is taken by his Japanese com- 
petitor. The following extract from a letter, written 
by an American business man in Korea, later in China, 
furnishes sufficient evidence to confirm some of these 
economic restrictions. 

Another form of persecution which the Japanese are 
practising on the Koreans will, I am sure, startle the 
world. No rich Korean is permitted to spend his money 



ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 121 

except on the permission of the Japanese authorities. 
The Japanese Government has placed in the household 
of every rich Korean a Japanese officer in the capacity of 
a butler and cashier, who has the entire run of the house, 
passing on all the expenses, and no Korean can spend his 
money without the O. K. of this Japanese butler. I state 
this on the authority of the American Consul here at 
Seoul, who told me that an American firm here has been 
trying to sell automobiles to the rich Koreans, who want 
to buy them, but that the Japanese officials will not per- 
mit such purchases to be made. I afterwards confirmed 
this from the American firm located here. In addition 
to this the Japanese authorities are hampering the Amer- 
ican business men in every way possible.'' 

The Japanese Government in Korea has carried out 
systematically their policy of reducing the Korean 
people to hewers of wood and drawers of water, and 
the Japanese, backed by their Government, have suc- 
ceeded in gaining the control of every channel of com- 
merce and industry. The Korean merchant cannot 
compete with the Japanese because of the preferential 
treatment accorded to Japanese nationals. All rights 
to develop the resources of the country are given to 
Japanese, and every Korean enterprise, even of the 
humblest sort, is insidiously hampered by the with- 
holding of necessary licenses and similar obstructions. 
Korea, at present, is a paradise for Japanese loan 
sharks and speculators. I have confidential letters 
from my friends in Korea stating that the people are 
frequently in such financial straits as to mortgage 
their property and borrow money from the Japanese 

* Quoted by Sidney Greenbie, Asia, September, 1919, p. 922, 



122 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

speculators at an interest as high as seventy per cent, 
per annum. " The Koreans haven't the shadow of 
a fair chance against subsidized Japanese concerns, 
governmental and individual," writes Sidney L. 
Greenbie. " Japan guaranteed the open door to all 
foreigners, but as soon as she annexed Korea she shut 
the doors to all foreigners for eighteen months to en- 
trench the Japanese and practically keep all others 
out. And now everything in Korea is ' Government.* " 
While Korea was independent, all nations enjoyed 
within her boundaries equal commercial privileges. 
The first Korean railway — Seoul-Chemulpo line — was 
built and owned by an American concern; the first 
electric plant in Korea was installed by the Bostick and 
Colbran Company in 1895. This same company built 
the first and largest electric road and waterworks in 
Korea. The Korean Customs Service, under the old 
administration, was in the hands of McLeavy Brown, 
an Englishman of uncompromising principles, who 
helped maintain the open door in Korea. To-day Nip- 
ponese tradesmen have driven out practically all other 
nationals and have the market to themselves. As an 
instance, the British-American Tobacco Company, 
which had been one of the most successful foreign 
concerns in Korea, was unable to compete with the 
Japanese trust, which is a government monopoly, with 
the result that the company was virtually forced out 
of the country in 1915. This discrimination against 
foreigners produces an intolerable condition, and not 
only drives out all foreign capital already invested in 
Korea but prevents the coming of more to develop the 



ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 123 

country. In 1908, a Korean financier, Lee Seng- 
Huen of Chung Chu, made an agreement with the 
Parma Company of Italy to establish a Korean-Italian 
import and export firm in Korea. The agent of the 
Parma Company went to Korea to investigate. When 
he was told by the Japanese authorities some of the 
rules and regulations that the new firm would have 
to face, the firm was successfully frightened away 
from Korean soil. 

The policy of discrimination runs through the en- 
tire system of Japanese rule in Korea, both govern- 
mental and private. The Korean-American Electric 
Company, which was formerly owned by the Bostick 
and Colbran firm, now is in the hands of the Japanese, 
and can be taken as a fair example of Japanese in- 
dustrial discrimination against Koreans. While that 
firm was in the management of Americans, the ma- 
jority of the office force was Korean. Now, out of 
four hundred people employed in the office, only four 
are Koreans, the rest being Japanese. The average 
salary of a Japanese clerk is sixty yen, while that of a 
Korean doing the same work is only twenty yen. While 
under the American management, the car fare was 
two sen; now under Japanese ownership, the car fare 
is five sen, and at the same time the wages of the 
Korean conductors has dropped from an average of 
thirty yen to twelve yen a month. There is not a 
single industry In Korea where this system of dis- 
crimination does not appear. It may be asked why do 
the Koreans not start business enterprises of their own. 
The Japanese Government does not let them. Some 



124 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

years ago a group of Korean financiers promoted the 
plan of establishing a farmers' bank in Taiku to check 
the illegitimate exploitation by the Bank of Chosen and 
the Oriental Development Company, but this project 
was promptly stopped by the Government. 
Writes an American resident in Korea: 

Look at the administration from whatever point you 
will, the aim of the Japanese to make Korea a preserve 
for Japanese officialdom and exploit her for the benefit 
of Japan and Japanese colonists, stands out as clear as 
day. Visit the large harbours, and you will find that the 
land adjoining the docks is monopolized by the Japa- 
nese, and the Koreans denied building rights within the 
Japanese section. The crown lands, that have been held 
in perpetual lease by generations of Korean farmers, have 
been sold by the Government, almost exclusively to Japa- 
nese settlers. For this reason the emigration to Man- 
churia has been increasing year by year. The banking 
system of the peninsula has been greatly extended and 
improved, and is increasingly proving a boon to the na- 
tives. But it is surely unfortunate that, with the possible 
exception of the Kanjo Bank, all the managers and nine- 
tenths of the clerks are Japanese. It is this wholesale 
handicapping of the Korean youth that engenders the 
disaffection which has recently shown itself. This com- 
ing as it does from a people who are so strongly urging 
their policy of " No Race Discrimination," is, to say the 
least, an aspersion on Japanese sincerity.'' 

*The Korean Situation, pp. 115-116. 



VII 

INTELLECTUAL STRANGULATION 

THE policy of the Japanese Government in 
Korea is to consider the land and the people 
as its property; therefore, it would be to the 
profit of Japan to keep the people as ignorant as pos- 
sible. The subject race must forget their past, be 
ignorant of the affairs of the world, and believe that 
by divine will they were made to serve their masters. 
They must be made into loyal Japanese subjects — an 
inferior brand of Japanese. They should be given 
some technical training so that they may serve in- 
telligently as hewers of wood and drawers of water, 
but anything beyond that is not desirable, but in fact, 
dangerous. 

With this policy in view, the intellectual suppres- 
sion of the Korean people has been as systematically 
carried out as political or economic subjugation. One 
of the first things the Terauchi administration did 
after the annexation was to collect all books of Korean 
history and biographies of illustrious Koreans from 
schools, libraries and private homes, and to burn 
them.* Priceless treasures of historical records were 

* Letter written by Dr. Frank W. Schofield, Canadian medical 
missionary in Korea, to Captain J. W. Graves of Yale School of 
Religion, in which Dr. Schofield mentions the destruction of 

125 



126 THE CASE OF KOEEA' 

thus destroyed by this needless vandalism of the Japa- 
nese. All Korean periodical literature — from local 
newspapers to scientific journals — ^has been com- 
pletely stamped out.* In true Japanese fashion the 
Government does not say that the Koreans shall not 
publish anything for themselves. But they lay down 
such rules and regulations as make it impossible for a 
Korean to start a publication of any kind. To start 
a publication, whether a newspaper, magazine or book, 
one must obtain permission from the censor, which is 
next to impossible. If this difficulty is overcome, the 
publisher must deposit a certain sum of money with the 
police to meet the contingency of a fine. When an 
issue of a magazine is to be printed, two galley proofs 
must be sent to the censor and his stamp of approval 
obtained on each page before it can finally go to the 
press. If the censor has overlooked anything, the en- 
tire issue, after printing, is suppressed. Every attempt 
made by Koreans at publication fails because of this 

Korean historical books by Japanese. This letter was published 
in Neiv Haven Journal-Courier, December 30, 1919. 

Nathaniel Peffer says in his pamphlet, The Truth About Korea, 
" Korean history is not allowed to be taught as such. Immedi- 
ately after annexation all books giving Korean history were con- 
fiscated and destroyed. Houses were systematically searched; 
any literature telling of Korea's development was burned, and 
frequently the man in whose possession it was found was jailed. 
It is to-day a crime to own a Korean history. I have talked to 
Koreans who have been beaten and sentenced to imprisonment 
of from fifteen to thirty days for committing the crime of reading 
about their own country." 

^ Nine dailies and six monthlies of national importance were 
abolished in 1910, to say nothing of minor publications (Korean 
History, Chinese and Korean edition, pp. 228-229). 



INTELLECTUAL STEANGULATION 127 

official control. This regulation applies to books as 
well as to periodicals. Once Dr. James S. Gale trans- 
lated into Korean some of Kipling's jungle stories for 
Korean children. It was suppressed by the censor be- 
cause it contained an incident where the elephant re- 
fused to serve his second master, inference being made 
by the censor that the Korean children might be given 
the impression that they should refuse to serve their 
alien masters — the Japanese. 

" At the end of the fiscal year, 1916," says the Japa- 
nese Government Report, " there were twenty news- 
papers published in Chosen, of which eighteen were 
Japanese, one Korean and one English." But they 
were all Japanese, and three of them, including the 
last two, are Government organs. Concerning the 
functions of the Seoul Press, an English organ of the 
Government, I will elaborate in another chapter. But 
it might not be amiss to say a word concerning the 
Government organ, the Maiil Sinpo, the only daily 
published in the Korean language. If it gives news 
at all, that news Is unblushing Japanese propaganda, 
so unblushing as to deceive none, not even, the densely 
ignorant. Everybody In Korea, both foreigners and 
natives, knows that truth is an unknown quantity In 
the sheet of this Government mouthpiece. 

The only publications that are printed In Korean 
are those published by missionaries, devoted entirely 
to religious themes. Even these are hampered by the 
censor. A few years ago The Christian Messenger 
published a sonnet to spring. The Issue was sup- 
pressed by the censor on the charge that the rebirth 



128 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

of the year implied the rebirth of a nation to the 
Korean mind, thereby inciting rebellion against the 
Government. " In a Tract Society pamphlet issued 
some time ago there appeared a sentence in which all 
Christian Koreans were adjured to expel the devil 
from within them. That pamphlet was suppressed 
with high indignation. Devil? said the official to the 
editor, devil? When you say devil you are referring 
to Japan, you are urging Koreans to rise in rebellion! 
And instructions were then issued to all religious pub- 
lications never to allow the character for devil to ap- 
pear in their papers or books again." ^ In more pro- 
nounced cases the Koreans were punished. Thus a 
college girl in Pyeng Yang was sentenced to two years 
in the penitentiary for writing a song on Korean lib--' 
erty which she sang at a demonstration meeting in 
Pyeng Yang, March, 1919. 

Simultaneously with the suppression of the press 
came the dissolution of all Korean organizations, po- 
litical and otherwise. Japanese Government Report 
states that " most of the political associations and 
similar bodies were ordered to dissolve themselves at 
the time of annexation, as it was deemed necessary to 
take such a step for the maintenance of peace and 
order. Since then there has been no political party 
or association, as such, among the Koreans." But as 
a matter of fact, out of ten nationally known organi- 
zations dissolved right after the annexation, only one 
was purely political.* The others had as their aims 

* Peffer, The Truth About Korea, pp. 19-20. 

* Korean Historical Commission, Korean History, pp. 223-228. 



INTELLECTUAL STEANGTJLATION 129 

the advancement of learning, the diffusion of common 
knowledge, the promotion of social welfare and better- . 
-ment of business conditions. 

With regard to the right of assemblage and the 
right of free speech, the official Report says, " The 
holding of public meetings in connection with political 
affairs, or the gathering of crowds out-of-doors, was 
also prohibited, except open air religious gatherings 
or school excursion parties, permission- for which 
might be obtained of the police authorities." And the 
police, who are all-powerful in Korea, have the au- ' 
thority to decide as to what kind of meetings they 
should allow Koreans to have. One might get an im- 
pression that " religious gatherings " and " school ex- 
cursion parties " were free from interference of the 
police. But " even a field meet, in which two or more 
schools contemplate participation " is not allowed. " A 
Y. M. C. A. meeting has to report the date, hour, 
speaker, topic for discussion, etc., beforehand for the 
police approval. A few years ago such a purely aca- 
demic society as the 'Law and Economics' Association' 
was given ' advice ' to dissolve, and who is there that 
can afford to be heedless of such an advice? " ' 

Freedom of speech? No meeting of Koreans can be 
held for any purpose without official permit. No meet- 
ing can be held, even with permit, without spies. There 
is never a pastor's conference, there is never a church 
service without its spies. Freedom of speech ? A Korean 
Methodist pastor delivered a sermon on the Kingdom of 
God — the case is a classic in Korea. He was arrested 

* Hugh H. Cynn, The Rebirth of Korea, p. 119. 



130 THECASE OF KOEEA 

immediately after the service. He was severely repri- 
'manded and threatened with dire consequences if the 
offense were repeated. There is only one Kingdom, he 
was told — the Kingdom of Japan. 

In the graduation exercises of a high school in Pyeng 
Yang a boy once chanced to mention Julius Ceesar. His 
note-books and text-books were seized by the police ; the 
whole faculty was examined and the principal was repri- 
manded for allowing dangerous ideas to be propagated 
in his school.^ 

The Korean must, under no circumstances, meddle 
in politics, no matter how vitally that may affect his 
body and soul. He must be deaf, dumb and blind. 
To have an interest in the march of human affairs in 
the world is a crime in Korea. And why should the 
Korean take an interest in the spirit of the times, or 
wish to participate in the political affairs of his coun- 
try ? All the political thinking will be done for them 
by the Japanese masters, who are more than equal to 
the task. Thus runs the Japanese official mind in 
Korea. The following statement, made by a British 
resident of Korea, sums up the stifled intellectual con- 
dition of the Korean: 

Military occupation and military Government and the 
evident purpose of the administration to exploit Korea 
for the benefit of Japan and the Japanese settler — these 
rankle in the sensitive Korean mind and force him to fix 
his hope upon " The Day " when his " national aspira- 
tions shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction." The 
military rule has not left him even the vestige of liberty. 
Every man's movements are under the inquisitorial scru- 

* Nathaniel Pefifer, The Truth About Korea, p. 20. 



* INTELLECTUAL STEANGULATION 131 

tiny of police and gendarme. All public meetings and 
society organizations are governed by law. A meeting to 
discuss world events is an impossibility; a democratic 
remark would inevitably mean a clash with officialdom. 
Free speech is unknown. Two years ago three students 
of the Pyeng Yang Union Christian College were ar- 
rested for making some liberal remarks in a valedictory 
address, and the literary society of that college was 
forced to discontinue. It goes without saying that the 
press is muzzled. No progressive young Korean can find 
a medium for the expression of his ideas. One of the 
brightest of young Koreans, Mr. Choy Namsun, is cred- 
ited with having edited no less than five magazines, one 
after the other of which have been suppressed. He is 
now in prison on the charge of having written the recent 
Independence Manifesto.'' 

So much has been said by Japanese spokesmen in 
America that Korea had no schools to speak of until 
Japanese went there, and that the Japanese Government 
is establishing magnificent schools for the education of 
the Korean youth. Nothing could be further from 
the truth. No other people in the Orient laid greater 
emphasis on education than did the Koreans. Under 
the old regime, there was a school in every hamlet 
and village, supported by the people of each locality. 
From time immemorial Korea had a Ministry of State 
for Education, equal in rank with other Ministries in 
the Cabinet. Right after the annexation the Japanese 
reduced the Department of Education to a Bureau 
and placed it under the Department of Internal Affairs. 
To be a scholar in classical education in old Korea was 
the aim of every ambitious lad, as the hall of honour 
* Congressional Record, Vol. 58, p. 2862, July 17, 1919. 



132 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

and glory could be reached only through the path of 
classical scholarship. Dr. George Heber Jones, in 
distinguishing the three peoples in the Far East by 
traits peculiar to each, states : 

In character the Korean people are naturally friendly. 
To those who inspire them with respect and confidence, 
they are the soul of generous hospitality. The Koreans 
are intellectually inclined, the national ideal is the 
scholar. Whereas in China the cast of mind is com- 
mercial giving us a nation of merchants, and in Japan it 
is military giving us a nation of warriors, in Korea it is 
literary, giving us a nation of scholars.* 

At the time of annexation, modern schools were 
being established by Koreans everywhere in the penin- 
sula. The people were beginning to realize the neces- 
sity of modern education. They spared no pains or 
money in educating their youth. The Japanese Gov- 
ernment Report admits that " several years ago the 
establishment of private schools became popular 
among the Koreans, so that one time there were more 
than two thousand private schools in the peninsula." 
But Japan does not look with favour upon agencies that 
have a tendency to enlighten the people. The admin- 
istration passed various educational regulations which 
were tantamount to closing nearly all private schools, 
and the Japanizing educational program was intro- 
duced. The aim of education for Koreans is set forth 
in the Imperial Ordinance number 229, promulgated 
on August 23, 1911. " The essential principle of edu- 
cation in Chosen shall be the making of loyal and good 

* Quoted by Horace G. Underwood, The Call of Korea, p. 46. 




^^^^^^ ,* u^'/TTS''!*^^^^*^*^ * 



y? 



PAI JAI COLLEGE (AMERICAN MISSION SCHOOL) 
At Seoul Which Has Furnished Its Quota of Prisoners during the Independ- 
ence Movement. 







THE KOREAN CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE AT HONOLULU 



INTELLECTUAL STEANGULATION 



133 



subjects," says the Ordinance. This means that every- 
thing else must be sacrificed for the cause of making 
loyal Japanese subjects out of Koreans. And the 
Japanese administration in Korea ruthlessly enforced 
the policy of clubbing Japanese patriotism into the 
heads of Korean youngsters. The following table and 
the subjoining comment, submitted in a report pre- 
sented to Congress through the Federal Council of the 
Churches of Christ in America by a British resident of 
Korea, is self-explanatory. 

Comparative statistics of schools in Korea for Koreans and 
Japanese (with statistics of mission schools). 

GOVERNMENT SCHOOI,S FOR KOREANS. 



Kind of school. 



Elementary public school 
High elementary school , 
Girls' high school .... 
College 



Number. 



447 
3 

2 

3 



Scholars. 



67,629 

537 
164 
277 



Applica- 
tions. 



2,651 
187 
844 



GOVERNMENT SCHOOI,S FOR JAPANESE. 



Kind of school. 



Elementary school 

Middle school 

Girls' high school 

College 

CHRISTIAN SCHOOI,S. 

Kind of school. 




34,100 

375 
526 

91 



Elementary school 
Middle school . . 
Girls' high school 
College 



Scholars. 




22,542 
2,125 

J. 35 2 
250 



134 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Government schools for Koreans: 

Government subsidies Y.602,888 

Population 17,500,000 

Government schools for Japanese : 

Government subsidies Y. 339,660 

Population 300,000 

Christian schools : 

Government subsidies None. 

Population 300,000 

The above table shows that for a Korean population of 17,500,- 
000 the Government has provided no more than 447 schools, ca- 
pable of receiving no more than 67,629 scholars, or about one 
three-hundredths of the population. Compared with this there 
has been provided for the 300,000 Japanese residents 324 schools, 
capable of receiving 34,100 scholars, or one-ninth of the popula- 
tion. This does not mean that the Koreans are unwilling to 
educate their boys. The governor general reports the existence 
of no fewer than 21,800 old-type village schools, which must 
provide the elements of education to some 500,000 boys. To this 
must be added the 22,542 children attending Christian schools. 
But it is the higher-grade school system that receives most 
criticism from the Korean. Not only do the Japanese boys and 
girls in Korea get a higher standard of education than the native 
Korean, but more ample provision is made for their numbers. 
Including the three colleges, there are only seven schools for 
Koreans above the common public-school grade, capable of 
admitting no more than 978 scholars, whereas the Japanese 
children have 14 schools, with a capacity for receiving 992 
scholars. Surely this leaves the administration open to the 
charge of discrimination and to thq further charge of refusing 
the Korean the benefits of higher education. Here again the 
excuse cannot be made that Koreans are indifferent to higher 
education, for in 1916 there were 3,682 applicants for the 978 
places. The much suspected and maligned Christian church has 
stepped into the breach and, with its 31 academies and 4 colleges, 
receives yearly almost 4,000 students. If it be argued that the 
Government encourages young Koreans to take their higher 
education in Japan, the answer is that for most young men the 
cost is prohibitive, and that what applies to the Korean youth 
should apply equally to the sons of Japanese settlers. Not until 



INTELLECTUAL STEANGULATION 135 

the Government makes a fair provision from public funds for the 
native Koreans as she does for the Japanese colonists will she 
free herself from the stigma of "race discrimination" withia 
her own empire/ 

Japanese administration requires that all school in- 
structions be given in the Japanese language, and that 
the aim of education is to make loyal subjects out of 
Koreans. And yet, it is, indeed, strange that the ad- 
ministration has provided two school systems in Korea 
— one for Japanese children and the other for the Ko- 
rean. The Japanese schools in Korea are identical 
with those in Japan proper, and therefore, their high 
standard is beyond question. But the schools for the 
Korean children, established by the Government, are 
not only few in number, but inferior in quality. The 
Japanese Government Report says: "The school age 
for Koreans being eight, is two years later than that 
for Japanese. The period of study for common school 
is four years, but it may be shortened to three years ac- 
cording to local conditions." But the period of study 
for the corresponding school for Japanese is six years. 
To quote further from the Report, " The higher com- 
mon school gives a liberal education to Korean boys of 
not less than twelve years of age for a period of four 
years." But the corresponding Japanese middle school 
requires five years. " This shows," says Professor 
Hugh H. Cynn, " that while eleven years are provided 
for the Japanese youths for primary and secondary 
education, only eight years are allowed the Korean 
youths; and the law says that may still be lowered to 

* Congressional Record, Vol. 58, No. 47, p. 2S63, July 17, 1919. 



136 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

seven years, while no extension whatsoever can law- 
fully be made under any circumstances." * 

Principals of all schools, except those under direct 
supervision of the missionaries, are Japanese, and 
every school, including those supported by American 
money, must have three or more Japanese teachers. 
Furthermore, it is required by the Government that the 
salary of the Japanese teachers shall be twice that of 
Korean teachers, and Japanese teachers are supplied to 
various schools by the Government through its Bureau 
of Education. If the officially selected teacher for a 
Korean private or missionary school is efficient and 
agreeable to school authorities, they should be thank- 
ful; if not, they have to take him just the same and 
pay the salary. And woe to a Korean school that re- 
sents the presence of Japanese teachers, for it will 
suffer the penalty of having its doors closed. Con- 
cerning the Government schools, Koreans have less to 
say. Of the five Government high schools in the coun- 
try eighty-two teachers are Japanese and nineteen Ko- 
rean. And yet the Koreans are the ones who pay the 
taxes to support these schools. 

Text-books and course of study even in common 
schools are prescribed by the Government. Here the 
difficulty of adjustment arose in missionary schools 
which always have conducted the curriculum in pure 
Korean. But this I will discuss in another chapter. 
Up to this year, 1920, all teachers were required to 
wear swords in schoolrooms. Think of a teacher of 

^For fuller discussion, see Hugh H. Cynn, The Rebirth of 
Korea, Chap. V. 



INTELLECTUAL STEANGULATION 137 

little boys and girls of eight and nine strutting into a 
schoolroom rattling a sword! It is an interesting 
commentary on Japan's lack of humour. 

The text-books of history and geography, issued by 
the Government, are hopelessly garbled versions. 
" The Japanese are taking it upon themselves to invent 
even ethnological facts," says Sidney Greenbie. "In 
imitation of England, they are trying to make it appear 
to Koreans that Japan is their mother country, as 
England was to America, and invariably speak of it in 
that manner." * It is intended to give a contemptuous 
view of Korea and a glorified one of Japan. It teaches 
that Korea is only 2,000 years old instead of 4,000 and 
is junior to Japan. Japanese and Korean Emperors 
were brothers once upon a time, and Japan always has 
been the historic protector of Korea. Every trace of 
civilization that Korea ever had was brought over 
from Japan, as the Koreans have always been savages. 
The annexation was brought about by the desire of the 
Korean people as a reunion with the mother country; 
it was a magnanimous act on the part of Japan to as- 
sume the responsibility of annexing Korea. 

This warping of historical facts brought forth vig- 
orous protest from Dr. William Elliot Griffis, the dis- 
tinguished American scholar on Oriental history and 
civilization. Says Dr. Griffis; 

The nursery tales, accepted as sober facts, which pic- 
ture Korea as conquered and made tributary to Japan, 
are simply mirrors of Japanese vanity and conceit with 

* Sidney Greenbie, "Korea Asserts Herself," Asia, September, 
1919, p. 923. 



138 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

no reflection in history. . . . The Japanese are deeply 
indebted to the Koreans for the introduction of writing 
and literature. Not only did hundreds of Korean peace- 
ful envoys and men of the pen, the brush, the chisel and 
the sutra enter the Mikado's domain, but along with them 
came refined and educated women, who were governesses 
in the noble families and instructors of court ladies and 
teachers of etiquette.'' 

When we examine the course of study, it is equally 
ridiculous. Of the thirty-two hours a week instruc- 
tion in the Lower Common School, similar to Ameri- 
can grammar school, eight hours are given over to 
learning the Japanese language, five to arithmetic, five 
to the Chinese characters — ^which are the basis of the 
Japanese and Korean written languages as well as the 
Chinese — five to g}''mnastics, three to industrial work, 
two to agriculture, two to calligraphy, one to music 
and one to what is called ethics, which teaches how the 
divine Emperor of Japan should be worshipped. Ko- 
rean children are not allowed to study their own lan- 
guage and history The little history taught in the 
Higher Common Schools is the history of Japan with 
Japanese editing; by this editing the whole world is a 
kind of offspring of Japan, temporarily disinherited, 
but eagerly awaiting restoration to its patrimony under 
the fatherly wing of the Heavenly Ruler, the Emperor 
of Japan. The Government-edited geography pictures 
the Japanese archipelago as the pearl in the oyster of 
the universe, and Korea by being a part of Japan 
shares the luster by way of reflection. The Korean 

* William Elliot Grififis, "Japan's Debt to Korea," Asia, August, 
1919, pp. 742-748. 



INTELLECTUAL STEANGULATION 139 

child, under the system of Japanese education, is kept 
as ignorant of the history of other nations or what is 
going on in the world as the child of a Hottentot. 

Besides this Japanizing curriculum, there is an infi- 
nite amount of red-tape in connection with the school 
which is annoying to the Korean, to say the least. In 
every school there is a " Loyalty Room " in which is a 
display of charts and diagrams to impress upon the 
Korean mind that Japan is the oldest and the most 
powerful nation in the world, and that the Mikado is 
really the divine commissioned ruler of all mankind. 
" What struck me in this Loyalty Room," wrote the 
late Walter E. Weyl of the New Republic, after his 
visit to Korea in 1917, " was the sedulous care with 
which these patient Japanese masters seek to indoctri- 
nate the Koreans, whose unquiet independence they 
have abolished and whom they now wish to transform 
into patriotic Nipponese." ^ On every Japanese holi- 
day the Korean children are required to bow down be- 
fore the tablet of the Mikado in the Loyalty Room. 
One Korean lad, who refused to worship the image of 
this Heavenly Ruler, was sent to the penitentiary for 
seven years. 

To this must be added the irksome and petty official 
interference. There is an official inspection of the 
schools every day, and every conceivable detail must 
be reported to the Government, which takes a large 
part of the teacher's time and even more of the prin- 
cipal's. " Everything in a school from the nature and 

* Walter E. Weyl, " Korea — an Experiment in Denationaliza- 
tion." Harper's Magazine, February, 1919, pp. 392-401. 



140 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

price of the chalk used to the ancestry of a teacher 
must be reported and frequently inspected. It is this 
that irks so terribly, especially the foreigners in the 
Christian schools. One cannot engage a teacher with- 
out official permission or dismiss him without official 
permission; and every teacher's record, in thrice 
greater detail than on a passport application, must be 
filed. One cannot raise the salary of a janitor without 
official permission. One cannot buy twelve new black- 
board erasers without official permission. If in the 
Chosen Christian College physics is taught at nine 
o'clock and chemistry at ten, and the school wants to 
reverse the order for convenience, it cannot do so with- 
out official permission. And perpetually there are in- 
spections." '' And the slightest infraction of these 
rules will be followed by the closing of the schools. 

Private schools, supported by private endowments, 
must comply with these official regulations the same as 
Government schools. Besides, the Japanese teachers, 
placed in the private Institutions by the Government at 
the expense of the school, serve as semi-official agents 
of the Government, and their opinion and desire must 
be taken into consideration In whatever the school un- 
dertakes to do. And they cannot be dismissed by the 
school authorities. Is It any wonder that 2,000 pri- 
vate schools of modern education in 1910 dwindled to 
970 at the end of the year 1916? 

It may be asked why the Korean youth do not go 
abroad for education. In the first place, the majority 
of the Koreans are financially unable to send their chil- 
* Nathaniel Peffer, The Truth About Korea, p. 13. 



INTELLECTUAL STEANGULATION 141 

dren abroad for education; secondly, for those who 
can afford to educate their children in America and in 
Europe, the Japanese veto the plan. No passports are 
issued to Koreans to go to America or Europe to at- 
tend school. When they go they must escape the 
country, risking the peril of being caught and punished 
by the Government. " Korea has been Prussianized," 
says Tyler Dennett, who has visited the Far East twice, 
once as a magazine writer, and later in connection 
with the Centenary Commission of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church of America. " Japan has even gone 
so far as to forbid Korean students to come to the 
United States to finish their education. The Prussian- 
izing of Alsace-Lorraine never went to such an extent 
as that." ' 

It is true that the Korean students may go to Japan. 
But there they are again met with difficulties. They 
must do one of two things before entering a Japanese 
college or university. They must begin all over again 
in Japan, from grammar school up, and very few boys 
of sixteen or seventeen are willing to do that, or they 
must take entrance examinations which are made espe- 
cially dif^cult for Korean students. " Even if he 
were able to take the entrance examination and quali- 
fied himself, he is given only a certificate when he com- 
pletes the course, for the reason that he does not hold 
the diplomat from the next lower school in the same 
system. It goes without saying that the holder of a 
certificate does not enjoy any of the privileges that a 

'Tyler Dennett, "The Road to Peace, via China," Outlook, 
117:168-169, October 3, 1917. 



142 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

regular diploma carries." * Despite all his discrimi- 
nation and handicap, there are several thousand Ko- 
rean students in Japan, who are holding more than 
their own in Japanese schools. The fact that the 
Government-General sends a number of Korean stu- 
dents to Japan is hardly worth mentioning, as it is 
done to show to the Western public that the Japanese 
Government is encouraging education among Koreans. 
These Government students are picked not on scholas- 
tic merit, nor from deserving students who need finan- 
cial aid ; but from the sons of well-to-do Koreans who 
are not openly antagonistic to Japanese rule. Their 
schools and the course of study are prescribed by the 
Government, and they have no choice of their own. 
As a rule they are directed to industrial schools, but 
are barred from institutions of higher learning. 

Taking all these things into consideration, is it any 
wonder that the Koreans are convinced that the Japa- 
nese educational system in Korea is to keep the Korean 
people as ignorant as possible ? Their language is for- 
bidden; their history is forgotten; their civilization is 
scorned ; of the outer world they are allowed to know 
nothing; all the vast body of human knowledge is 
locked to them. Korean children must be given just 
enough training to enable them to be intelligent serv- 
ants of the Japanese m the future. Every Korean 
child knows it, so the youngsters gather in little groups 
of three and four after school to study the Korean lan- 
guage. Indeed, the earnestness with which the Ko- 
rean children cling to their own nationality is an inter- 
* Hugh H. Cynn, The Rebirth of Korea, pp. 107-108. 



INTELLECTUAL STEANGULATION 143 

esting study, if not an inspiring lesson. Equally inter- 
esting is the way in which the Japanese Government 
covers up the suppression of the Korean mind, and 
tries to assure the outside world that the Koreans are 
being " civilized " under the intelligent guidance of 
Japan. The following excerpt from the pen of an 
American journalist will give the reader a clearer idea 
of Japan's educational program in Korea: 

Perhaps Japan does considerably more " viewing with 
alarm " than " pointing with pride " in Korea, but when- 
ever she does choose to point, she picks out the Govern- 
ment school system. Knowing the appeal that free educa- 
tion has for every American, Japanese officials always 
lay considerable stress on this phase of the administra- 
tion. Though one or two of the larger schools in Seoul 
are not bad to look upon, a little study proves that the 
success of the educational system is chiefly mythical. 
In the first place, the Japanese have placed most of the 
emphasis upon vocational training — regarded as a deadly 
insult by the Koreans, who, it must be remembered, were 
once the leading scholars of the Orient and the tutors of 
the Japanese. Secondly, they do not admit any child to 
school under eight years of age, which means that two 
school years are wasted — a serious matter when children 
are obliged to complete their education while still very 
young. 

Comparatively few of the schools provide for more 
than four years of work. From a source which is un- 
doubtedly reliable but which for obvious reasons is un- 
quotable, we learned that only one Korean child out of 
ten of school age is actually in school; and that though 
the Japanese make up but two per cent, of the resident 
population, their children absorb more than sixty per cent, 
of the educational funds. 



144 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

From first to last, Japanese administration of Korea 
has been a tragedy of errors. Japan made the initial 
mistake of cutting her policy of subjugation after a Von 
Bissing pattern. She also seemed to copy that peculiar 
German near-sightedness which makes it impossible to 
discover the features of another's psychology. If Japa- 
nese officials had lain awake nights trying to think up 
ways of making themselves unpopular with the Koreans, 
they could not have succeeded more completely.* 

* Elsie McCormick, "The Iron Hand in Korea," Christian 
Herald (New York), Vol. 43, pp. 469, 493, April 17, 1926. 



VIII 
IMPOSITION OF SOCIAL EVILS 

MORALITY Is a relative term ; its interpreta- 
tion shifts with different people and with 
different ages. Thus, what is condoned in 
one age becomes unpardonable in another, and what 
is unmoral with one people is quite often moral with 
others. In weighing the moral standards of a people, 
therefore, we should weigh them on the scale of their 
traditional culture, and not on that of our own. It is 
not command and obedience, but problem and free 
choice that makes true morality. Thus, every people 
should have a large latitude to decide for itself as to 
what is moral and what is not. But when a people 
whose social standards are decidedly immoral in the 
opinion of the enlightened world attempts to force its 
ethical code upon an unwilling race, the matter be- 
comes serious. 

Every nation has a certain amount of social evil to 
combat. But In Japan social evil is not combatted; 
on the contrary, it is encouraged by leaders of thought 
and of state affairs. Thus, It Is not mere assertion to 
state that Japan Is the most Immoral nation In the 
world. The Japanese principal of a large normal 
school is reported as openly stating to Mr. Galen W. 

H5 



146 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Fisher, Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. in Tokyo, that 
he not only patronized houses of ill fame himself, but 
that he advised his teachers to do so, and that he even 
gave them tickets so that at the end of each month the 
bills would be sent to him for payment and deduction 
made from their salaries. One hundred and seven 
districts were investigated by Captain Bechel, a travel- 
ler in Japan for seventeen years. He found ninety-six 
of them pestllently immoral. He reports that phallic 
worship is still practised in many Buddhist shrines, and 
that in some districts almost all the adults are tainted 
with immorality. He speaks of a principal of a school 
who had several paramours with the knowledge of 
parents and children alike; of a member of Parlia- 
ment who publicly had two concubines ; of a member 
of a Provisional Assembly who had two wives and two 
homes, with children in each, and who travelled with 
geisha; and of a soncho (chief of village) who sold 
a girl of twelve years, whose parents could not support 
her, for ten yen, because she might become a charge 
on the village.'' 

Ernest W. Clement, a long resident of Japan, who is 
familiar with the social conditions of Japan, writes in 
his Handbook of Modern Japan: 

As is well known, the social evil is licensed, and there- 
fore legalized, in Japan ; it is not merely not condemned 
but actually condoned. In Old Japan, the young girl will- 

Uapanese Young Men in War and Peace, published by the 
International Committee of the Y. M. C. A., New York, and 
" Japan's Need and Response," in the Missionary Review of the 
World, January, 191 7, pp. 5-6. 



IMPOSITION OF SOCIAL EVILS 147 

ing to sell herself to a life of shame to relieve the poverty 
and distress of her parents, would be considered virtuous, 
because filial piety was regarded as a higher virtue than 
personal chastity. Nor would the parents who accepted 
such relief be severely condemned, because the welfare 
of the family was more important than the condition 
of the individual. And even in Modern Japan, in the 
eyes of the law, it is no crime to visit a licensed house of 
ill fame; and visitors to such places hand in their cards 
and have their names registered just as if they were at- 
tending an ordinary public function. Nay, more, an ex- 
president of the Imperial University and one of the lead- 
ing philosophers and educators of the day, has come out 
in public print and affirmed that from the standpoint 
of science and philosophy, he can see no evil in prostitu- 
tion per se.^ 

It was said of the late Prince Ito, the most en- 
lightened and eminent statesman of modern Japan, 
that he engaged himself in grave state affairs in the 
daytime and spent the night in vice. While he was 
Premier, a foreign missionary reproved him for set- 
ting a bad example to the younger generation. The 
Premier replied: " I would rather give up the post of 
the premier, abandon the leadership of my party, and 
lose the respect of my people than to forego my li- 
centious pleasures." 

Although separated only by a strait, the Korean 
people had their social standards founded on the Con- 
fucian moral codes, and even in the most profligate 
period of their history, they never sank to the level 
of moral degeneracy that the Japanese are now and 
have been In, during the two thousand years of their 
*A Handbook of Modern Japan, pp. 166-167. 



148 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

history. Du Halde, the great geographer of the 
eighteenth century, described the people of Korea as 
"generally well made and of sweet and tractable dis- 
position; they understand the Chinese language, de- 
light in learning and are given to music and dancing." 
He further told that their manners were " so well 
regulated that theft and adultery were crimes un- 
known among them, so that there was no occasion to 
shut street doors at night; and although the revolu- 
tions which are fatal to all states may have somewhat 
changed this former innocence, yet they have still 
enough of it left to be a pattern to other nations." 

Before the influx of Japanese into Korea, there were 
no houses of ill fame in the country, although there 
were about five hundred kesang (dancing girls) mostly 
in Seoul, the largest city in Korea. From their early 
childhood the kesang were instructed in music and 
dancing, and as a class they were remarkably similar 
to the American chorus girls. The reputations of 
some of these girls were considered questionable, but 
their circle was confined almost exclusively to Seoul, 
comparatively speaking, the most immoral city in 
Korea. With the coming of the Japanese, the pro- 
fession of kesang — to entertain, people at social func- 
tions with their music and dancing — faded away, and 
the country has been flooded with licensed prostitutes. 
Japanese not only brought with them thousands of 
their prostitutes, but they have established Japanese 
and Korean brothels in every city in the country. 
They occupy the most prominent and attractive parts 
of the city, quite often placed in the residential dis- 



IMPOSITION OF SOCIAL EVILS 149 

tricts so as to drive out the sensitive people, who are 
forced to sell their property to Japanese at nominal 
prices. Young and ignorant Korean girls are cap- 
tured by Japanese vultures, often with the aid of the 
police, to lead the life of shame. In this manner Japan 
has propagated the " Red Light System " in Korea on 
an extensive scale. In Seoul alone $500,000 has been 
spent in establishing a superb district. Dr. Frank W. 
Schofield, a Canadian physician at the Union Sever- 
ance Hospital, who has made a thorough investigation 
of the system and made thousands of blood tests, sub- 
mits the following figures with the accompanying tes- 
timony that " in no nation are the women as immoral 
as they are in Japan." 

Town Prostitute Ratio, Korean Prostitute Ratio, Japanese 

Songdo I to 894 males i to 60 males 

Choonchun i to 558 males i to 62 males 

Seoul I to 228 males i to 60 males* 

From the above table it Is evident that immorality 
among the Japanese in Korea is about uniform in 
every district, but among the Koreans the figures in- 
crease in proportion to the degree of *' Japanization " 
of the community. Seoul is the most thoroughly 
" Japanlzed " city in Korea, hence the high figures of 
prostitute ratio to Its population. Dr. Arthur Judson 
Brown, the Secretary of the Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions of the Presbyterian Church in America, in re- 
cording his observations of social evils of the Japanese 

' Frank W. Schofield, " What Korea Suffers from Japan." The 
Christian Register, September 16, 1920, pp. 914-915. 



150 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

Empire, makes the following statement on the immoral 
conditions of Korea under Japan: 

Conditions substantially similar, although of course 
on a smaller scale, exist in practically every Japanese 
colony in Korea. Even where the number of Japanese 
is very small, it includes prostitutes. The evil is not con- 
fined to the " Red Light " districts. Geisha (dancing 
girls) are scattered about every considerable town, and 
waitresses in many of the inns, restaurants and drinking 
shops are well understood to be prostitutes, although of 
course not all of them are. That the authorities know 
the facts is apparent from statistics which I obtained 
from official sources during my second visit, and which 
listed immoral women in Seoul and Pyeng Yang as 
" prostitutes," " geisha," and " waitresses in inns, saloons 
and restaurants." The official records also showed that 
there was a monthly tax collected from prostitutes and 
geisha. The number of Korean prostitutes reported by 
the authorities in Seoul was also given me, and a com- 
parison of the figures showed that one person in thirty- 
one of the Japanese population of the capital was then 
classified as immoral, and that only one in 730 of the 
Korean population was so classified. . . . 

Racial distinctions are obliterated by this social evil. 
Koreans are not only openly solicited to vice, but I was 
reliably informed that it is not uncommon for Japanese 
panderers to conduct small travelling parties of prosti- 
tutes from village to village in the country districts. The 
crowning outrage I could not bring myself to believe if 
the editor of the Korea Review had not declared that 
" it is so fully proved both by foreign and native wit- 
nesses that it is beyond dispute. In a certain town in 
Korea, the military quartered soldiers in some Korean 
houses, and in others Japanese prostitutes. In a number 
of instances, Korean Christians were compelled to give 



IMPOSITION OF SOCIAL EVILS 151 

up part of their houses to these prostitutes who carried 
on their nefarious business on the premises. We made 
careful inquiries about this unspeakable outrage on de- 
cency, and the fact was verified in the positive manner." ^ 

Indeed, a Korean " rebel " schoolgirl made a 
poignant condemnation of the Japanese vice system 
when she said in her trial before the judge: " You 
have taken away our private schools and given us 
public brothels. A teacher's license is obtained with 
the greatest of difficulty ; a prostitute's license with the 
greatest of ease." 

Another consequence of the Japanese military oc- 
cupation of Korea is the morphine peddlers sanctioned 
and protected by the Japanese authorities. While 
Korea was independent, opium smuggling was pro- 
hibited under the death penalty, and the country was 
free from opium fiends, -with the exception of a few 
secret cases in Seoul. But no sooner had the Japa- 
nese occupied the country than it was infested by mor- 
phine mongers from Japan. F. A. McKenzie, a war 
correspondent of the London Daily Mail, in recording 
his personal observations in Korea shortly after the 
Japanese occupation, says: 

One act on the part of the Japanese surprised most of 
those who knew them best. In Japan itself opium 
smoking is prohibited under the heaviest penalties, and 
elaborate precautions are taken to shut opium, in any of 
its forms, out of the country. Strict anti-opium laws 
were also enforced in Korea under the old administra- 
tion. The Japanese, however, now permit numbers of 

*A. J. Brown, The Mastery of the Far Bast, pp. 383-384. 



152 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

their people to travel through the interior of Korea sell- 
ing morphia to the natives. In the northwest in particu- 
lar this caused quite a wave of morphia-mania/ 

The Japanese Government in Korea, moved by the 
desire of the revenue to be derived from opium traffic 
and of utilizing this agency to degenerate the native 
population, steadily encouraged the use of opium in 
all of its baneful forms. Finally, it was thought by 
the Japanese that the business would be more lucra- 
tive if the poppy were cultivated in Korea. They in- 
troduced the poppy and encouraged the Korean and 
Japanese farmers to cultivate it. " The Government's 
annual budget for promoting poppy culture in Korea 
is $182,000." ' 

With this Government subsidy and encouragement 
back of it, the poppy culture in Korea has increased 
to alarming proportions. In the summer of 1917, Rev. 
E. W. Thwing, the Oriental Secretary of the Inter- 
national Reform Bureau, of Peking, China, made a 
trip to Korea investigating the morphia-evil in the 
peninsula. His report contained the following: 

This spring I heard rumours that opium was being 
grown in Korea to be sold to the Chinese. I could not 
find out as to the truth of the report. After all that 
China had accomplished, it did not seem possible that 
Japan would begin the cultivation of this drug which has 
become an international danger. I went to Korea this 
summer to make investigations. The reports proved too 

* F. A. McKenzie, The Tragedy of Korea, p. 114. 
^ The Bulletin of International Reform Bureau, Washington, 
August 15, 1919, 



IMPOSITION OF SOCIAL EVILS 153 

true. I met Koreans who had seen it growing. One 
missionary counted thirteen fields of growing opium 
poppy in his district. I was told that Japanese officials 
had provided the seeds and had encouraged the Koreans 
to plant opium, saying that they would make much 
money.* 

" In Korea poppy fields are being extended with in- 
creasing rapidity, one missionary reporting a thousand 
acres in his district," says a religious weekly of New York. 
The " New Opium Ordinance for Korea " practically 
established a Japanese Government monopoly in opium 
traffic. In this Ordinance, morphia stands out as the 
main drug wanted, and Article IV stipulates that if the 
opium brought in by the Korean farmers does not con- 
tain the required amount of morphia, the opium shall be 
destroyed without payment. " Another portion of the 
regulation states that the opium sold is to be for the 
manufacture of morphia as well as other derivatives, 
and indicates the importance of the morphine to be se- 
cured. . . . The new regulations for Korea put the 
control of the matter into the hands of drug men and 
police, even though these men have been the greatest of- 
fenders in the past. . . . Many believe that this new 
opium policy for Korea will bring much danger, and 
large discredit, to Japan." ^ 

Dr. Arthur Judson Brown sums up the morphine 
evil in Korea as follows: 

The situation is serious in Korea. Most of the 
Koreans are not sensitive about it, but the more en- 
lightened are, and every real friend of the people is dis- 
tressed by it. The traffic is contrary to Japanese law, but 

* Peking Gazette, October 3, 1917. 

* The Continent (New York) , October 2, 1919, 



154 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

it is conducted more or less openly by Japanese, partic- 
ularly in the country districts, where peddlers spread 
the morphine and opium habit among multitudes of 
Koreans. The Japanese strictly enforce their law in 
Japan, and magistrates in Korea will usually punish a 
trafficker if the case is brought so directly to their notice 
that they cannot escape responsibility; but they will sel- 
dom press matters unless compelled to do so, and the 
effort to make them is apt to be unpleasant. Thousands 
of Koreans are learning the use of the morphine syringe 
from these Japanese itinerant venders. . . . Every 
hospital in Korea now has to treat opium and morphine 
fiends. Opium smoking was brought to Korea by the 
Chinese long ago, but the evil has never been so great 
as it is now. Protests of missionaries are beginning to 
make some impression, but the demoralization of Koreans 
continues.* 

Whatever may be the anti-opium regulations framed 
by the Japanese for Korea, they are but designed to 
show to foreigners when any such call the attention 
of the officials to the traffic; they are never intended 
to be enforced. By officially encouraging opium traffic 
in Korea, the Japanese administration obtains what it 
aims at: (1) considerable revenue; (3) steady but 
quiet annihilation of the Korean population by sys- 
tematic poisoning. 

The problem of liquor, though not as baneful as that 
of opium and morphine, deserves mention. As old as 
Korean history was the custom that every town should 
exercise municipal jurisdiction over liquor traffic. 
Nearly every large city, under the old Government, 
had saloons, but seldom, if ever, did a village possess 
*A. J. Brown, The Mastery_ of the Far East, p. 39a 



IMPOSITION OF SOCIAL EYILS 155 

a drinking place. Under Japanese rule, all this has 
been swept aside, and saloons are licensed in every 
town and village regardless of the wishes of the in- 
habitants. The petition from the Federal Council of 
the Protestant Evangelical Missions in Korea, pre- 
sented to the Governor-General, Admiral Saito, on 
September 29, 1919, voices its protest against the offi- 
cial licensing of liquor traffic in Korea, as follows: 

We request, also, the reformation of the laws con- 
cerning the liquor traffic, and ask the restoration of the 
power of local option which existed under the former 
Korean administration, by which the people of a village 
were able to prohibit the establishment of saloons in their 
vicinity. Now, under police protection, licenses are is- 
sued, and saloons established against the wishes of the 
people. 

There are a number of minor social evils in connec- 
tion with the above named. Cabaret houses and drink- 
ing shops were never as numerous in Korea as they 
are now. Cigarette smoking among boys has, like- 
wise, been increased. Koreans have used tobacco for 
many centuries, but cigarettes were unknown until they 
were brought in by the Japanese. It was a grave 
breach of etiquette, according to the time-honoured 
custom In Korea, for a minor to smoke in the presence 
of his elders. To-day, all these customs are being 
swept away, and no substitutes have been introduced. 
It is not uncommon to see boys of nine and ten smok- 
ing cigarettes in the street. Some years ago, Pastor 
Kil of Pyeng Yang was arrested and punished for 
preaching against the evil of cigarette smoking among 



156 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

boys. Dr. William T. Ellis, the well-known religious 
writer in America, was in Korea at that time, and he 
gives the analysis of the charge as follows: 

One of the most absurd of the recent arrests reported 
from North Korea — I have the story from the lips of a 
Presbyterian missionary — was that of Pastor Kil, the 
great minister of the Central Presbyterian Church of 
Pyeng Yang, a church which has " swarmed " forty-one 
times. Pastor Kil was among those arrested for treason. 
The charge, analyzed, was that he had advised Christian 
boys not to smoke cigarettes. The manufacture of cig- 
arettes, reasoned the Japanese, is a Government monop- 
oly; to speak against their use is to injure a Government 
institution; to injure a Government institution is to work 
against the Government; to work against the Govern- 
ment is treason; and therefore. Pastor Kil was charged 
with treason ! ^ 

Not so devitalizing to the Korean stamina as the 
evils mentioned above, yet tending to lower the social 
morals of the country is the public bath. In Japan 
men and women bathe together in public bath houses. 
This custom has been introduced into Korea by Japa- 
nese, and public bath houses have been established in 
every Korean city. Of course, no Korean women ever 
resort to these places. But the very existence of them 
is demoralizing to society. However, this evil is not 
without its compensating benefit to the Korean, for it 
helps him to realize that his culture is decidedly higher 
than that of his conqueror. Dr. James Gale, a British 
missionary in Korea for over thirty years, considers 

^ William T. Ellis, " Christianity's Fiery Trial in Korea," The 
Continent^ June 27, 1912, p. 897. 




A Typical Korean Church and Its Congregation — Simple and Lowly, but 
Faithful and Active. 



--«M.-«WuriJ«>u<*u«w<Wi«»u* 



^^ 



s I .*»« ipi'ifs/ fl(rt *iirpf ■ «'»*;#mipf >iMi- f* if| 




One of Many Thousands of Japanese Houses of Ill-fame Fostered by the 
Japanese Government in Korea to Corrupt the Morals of Korean Young Men. 



TWO COUNTERACTING SOCIAL FORCES IN KOREA 



IMPOSITION OP SOCIAL EVILS 157 

this as one of the points of contrast between the 
Korean and the Japanese character. 
Says Dr. Gale: 

The Korean guards his person and his women folk 
from the public eye with the most rigid exactitude. The 
Japanese, on the other hand, goes nude without any 
thought of obscenity, and his men and women bathe to- 
gether in a public bath with all the innocence of Botti- 
celli's Eve. This to the Korean is the limit of indecency 
and renders him wholly incapable of ever understanding 
the Japanese point of view.'' 

In fairness to the Japanese, it must be said that they 
did not bring the public bath to Korea with the delib- 
erate intention of destroying Korean character, as in 
the case of opium and other vices mentioned. It is 
their national custom which they have brought with 
them and are forcing upon the Korean people as a part 
of their Japanizing program. It, none the less, has 
its demoralizing effect in the community. 

Japan is a nation of copyists. With quick percep- 
tion and marvellous ability to imitate, the Japanese 
have copied from America and Europe all that is ex- 
pedient and efficacious. But, so far, they have sin- 
gularly failed to assimilate any of the fundamental 
principles of Western civilization. Thus, in material 
progress — especially in their army and navy — Japan 
is one of the " Big Five " powers of the world. But in 
the attainments of the finer qualities of civilization, 
which we call culture, Japan is the most backward of 

* James S. Gale, "The Missionary Outlook in Korea," The 
Missionary Review of the World, February, 1920, p. 118, 



158 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

modern nations. She has had her political and in- 
dustrial revolutions, but her moral and spiritual revo- 
lutions are yet to come. And, until she has gone 
through a reformation of the conscience, she cannot 
long hold a position in the family of enlightened na- 
tions. 

" Men still cry for special revolutions," says Hen- 
rik Ibsen, " for political revolutions are but trumpery 
and external. It is the human soul that must revolt." 



IX ' 

THE PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH 

AT a banquet given in honour of Bishop and 
Mrs. Herbert Welch at Columbus, Ohio, 
where the Methodist Episcopal Church held 
the famous Centenary Celebration during July and 
August, 1919, a Korean leader spoke on the mission 
of the Korean race in the Far East. " There are two 
things we hope to accomplish," he said. " We want to 
make Korea a democracy and a Christian democracy." 
Christianity from time immemorial has sown the seed 
of democracy. It taught the dignity of man and 
sanctity of human rights, and has been a powerful 
enemy of the tyrant everywhere it went. The Japa- 
nese tyrant and the Christian Church in Korea are no 
exceptions. 

The Korean Church is unique In Its organization 
and virility. Although nominally under the super- 
vision of the missionaries, it is a self-governing body. 
The Korean Church not only supports itself, but has 
sent out missionaries to other lands. In 1918 the Pres- 
byterian Church alone sent out forty-eight mission- 
aries, Including three to Shantung Peninsula to con- 
vert their Chinese brethren. The Korean Christians 
give not only one-tenth of their income, but also, one- 

IS9 



160 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

tenth of their service to the Church. In short, the 
Christians are the leaven in the Korean population. 
They are among the most progressive, self-reliant and 
efficient of all Koreans. They may submit to injustice 
and be obedient to Japanese laws, but they will not 
deny their faith or forget their nationality. They have 
demonstrated that they could die for the cause of 
righteousness and die willingly. Japan does not look 
with favour upon an agency that makes men of this 
independent sort. She was convinced that Christian- 
ity, more than any other institution, would stiffen 
Korea's moral fiber, awaken the dormant intellectual 
life and revitalize the manhood of the apparently dead 
nation. Something must be done to check the further 
propagation of Christianity and to crush the already 
existing influence of the Church. 

Peaceful methods were employed at first. " Mis- 
sionaries " from the Japanese Congregational Church, 
which is a semi-official organization in religious garb, 
and Shinto and Buddhist priests were brought over 
from Japan to convert the Koreans. The special mis- 
sion of the Japanese Congregational " missionaries " 
was to proselytize the Korean Christians so as to un- 
dermine the Korean Church. The Shinto and Bud- 
dhist priests were to reach the non-Christian population. 
Magnificent temples were built to these sects, and the 
Koreans were approached to join these organizations 
with alluring promises of favour from the Govern- 
ment. But Koreans saw the intention of Japan in all 
this, and turned a deaf ear to those religious propa- 
gandists of the Japanese Government. The whole 



THE PEESECUTION OF THE CHUEOH 161 

project of peaceful conquest of the Korean Christians 
turned out to be a fiasco. 

Governor-General Terauchi promptly decided to use 
the easiest method at his disposal — the method against 
which the Koreans would have no recourse — force. 
In the autumn of 1911, the most prominent leading 
Christians throughout the country were arrested by 
wholesale on the charge that they had been conspiring 
to murder the Governor-General. They were grilled 
through the usual process of " preliminary examina- 
tions." " Confessions " were prepared by the police 
for the prisoners to sign under secret tortures, which 
were repudiated in open court by the prisoners. Nine 
were exiled without trial, three died as a direct result 
of tortures, and one hundred and twenty-three were 
brought to trial on June 28, 1912, in the district court 
of Seoul. The counsel for the defense was not al- 
lowed to produce witnesses who could have testified 
to alibis, and the judges sided with the police in bas- 
ing their decisions on the strength of torture-wrung 
" confessions." On September 28, one hundred and six 
of the accused men were sentenced to terms of im- 
prisonment ranging from five to ten years.* 

Unfortunately for the Japanese Government, this 
travesty of justice aroused considerable criticism in the 
West. Dr. Arthur Judson Brown, the Secretary of 
the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian 
Church in America, in a remarkably clear pamphlet, 
The Korean Conspiracy Case, laid bare how the whole 
case was manufactured by the police to trap the most 

* Cf. Current Uterature, December, 1912, pp. 631-633. 



162 THE CASE OP KOIlEA 

progressive Korean leaders. Dr. Charles W. Bliot, 
President Emeritus of Harvard University, wrote 
from Tokyo on September 4, 1912, " The standing of 
Japan among Western nations would be improved by 
judicious modifications of her preliminary proceedings 
against alleged criminals." ^ James Gordon Bennett, 
the owner of the New York Herald, dispatched the 
Herald's trusted Peking Correspondent, J. K. Ohl, to 
Seoul to report the case. Mr. Ohl cabled the proceed- 
ings to his paper, which remorselessly revealed the 
entire fabrication of the Japanese police with which 
the court was in league. Dr. W. W. Pinson, the Sec- 
retary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, made a special trip to 
Korea to investigate the case. Among other things, 
he reported: 

One of the striking things about this body of prisoners 
is its personnel. If one is here looking for weak and 
cringing cowards or brazen desperadoes he will be dis- 
appointed. Instead, he will see men erect, manly, self- 
respecting and intelligent. There are many faces that 
bear the marks of unusual strength and nobility of char- 
acter. As a whole they are a body of men of far better 
quality than one would expect to see in the same number 
of men anywhere in this country. On closer investiga- 
tion it is made clear that the gendarmes have thrust 
their sickle in among the tallest wheat. These men do 
not belong to the criminal or irresponsible class of so- 
ciety. Most of them are Presbyterians, trained after the 
strictest sect of the Shorter Catechism. These are not 
the type of men to be guilty of such a plot as that with 

* Quoted by Brown in the pamphlet mentioned. 



THE PEESECUTION OF THE CHUECH 163 

which they are charged. They are too intelligent. They 
might be capable of a desperate venture for a great cause, 
but they could not possibly undertake anything idiotic* 

Foreign criticism compelled Japan to permit the ap- 
peal In the case, and the Court of Appeals was in- 
structed by the Governor-General to use " conciliatory 
methods," as a result of which all the prisoners were 
released except six. Five of these were sentenced to 
six years' penal servitude, and one to five years. They 
were the most prominent leaders, Baron Yun Chi Ho, 
a former member of the Korean Cabinet, President of 
the Southern Methodist College at Songdo, Vice- 
President of the Korean Y. M. C. A., and Yang Kal 
Tak, the best known Korean author and journalist, be- 
ing among them.'' The alleged crimes with which they 
were charged were Identical with those of the released ; 
their sentence was nothing more than a face-saving de- 
vice of the Japanese Government in Korea. The Pres- 
byterian Board of Foreign Missions of America, 
which made official representations to the Japanese 
Embassy at Washington concerning the Korean " Con- 
spiracy Case," was approached by semi-official repre- 
sentatives of the Japanese Government in America 
with the suggestion that all the prisoners would be 
pardoned If the American Presbyterian Church would 
admit their guilt and appeal to the Japanese Govern- 
ment for " clemency." This was flatly refused. The 

* Full report published in the New York Herald, September 29, 
1912. 

^ Cf . " Korea's Plight Under Japan," The Presbyteri(in Banner, 
July 16, 1914, 



164 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Japanese Government was chagrined at the failure of 
their officially hatched scheme of reducing the influence 
of Christianity in Korea, and all the accused were re- 
leased in February, 1915, at the time of the coronation 
of the Emperor, as a mark of Imperial " clemency." * 

The *' Conspiracy Case " did not daunt the Korean 
Christians. The position of the Korean Church, 
strange to say, was strengthened rather than weakened. 
In it the Koreans found comfort and support for their 
wounded personal injury and national honour. De- 
nied access to the outer world, imprisoned by their 
hated conquerors, they received through Christianity 
a contact with far-away nations, who seemed to have 
far kindlier ideals than the Japanese. And best of all, 
it gave them hope to " carry on." They were not re- 
signed to fate. On the contrary, they were eternally 
restless. The static idealism of the Orient was sud- 
denly changed into a dynamic power, and dying a 
martyr*s death for the sake of their faith and for the 
cause of their national freedom was considered the 
duty of every true Christian in Korea. Very aptly, 
William T. Ellis, the well-known religious writer in 
America, described the fiber of the Korean Christian 
in the following words: "In all the wide realm of 
foreign missions, there is no group of converts better 
qualified to pass through triumphantly the fires of per- 
secution than the Korean Christians. From the stand- 
point of Christian testimony, this dreadful story of 
persecution in Korea is a romantic and glorious one." 

*A complete record of the "Korean Conspiracy Case," pub- 
lished by Japan Chronicle in a pamphlet. 



THE PEESECUTION OF THE CHUECH 166 

The Japanese authorities now decided to tighten 
their stranglehold on the Korean Church in a less 
obvious way. " Educational Ordinances " were 
promulgated in 1915, forbidding religious instructions 
in mission schools under the pretext of separating edu- 
cation from religion, and requiring of all mission 
schools to have a Japanese supervisor appointed by 
the Bureau of Education. Mission schools were re- 
quired to report to the Government all the details of 
their work every day. No new schools were to be 
established without the Government permit, and no 
Christian clergyman was allowed to preach without a 
Government license. Obtaining permits from the 
Government was made next to impossible, and the 
authorities " advised " the Koreans not to send their 
children to mission schools. Ail teaching must be con- 
ducted in the Japanese language, and any school that 
did not meet with these requirements was to be closed 
by the Government. 

Those schools which had a Government permit 
when the Ordinances were announced ,were given ten 
years in which to adapt themselves to the new require- 
ments. Other schools must immediately conform or 
close. The Presbyterian Academy for Boys at Syen 
Chun and the Southern Presbyterian Academy for 
Girls at Soon Chun, although established before the 
law went into effect, had not received permits on ac- 
count of technical delays, yet were closed by magis- 
trates. Thus the missionaries and Christian workers 
were being deprived of their former rights under the 
old Korean Government and denied the privileges en- 



166 THE CASE OE KOBEA 

joyed by their fellow-workers in Japan proper. The 
Rev. James E. Adams, Secretary of the Senate of the 
Educational Foundation of Korea, rightly observes 
that " the situation is not at all that which obtains in 
Japan itself. In Japan proper, because of the common 
schools where education is compulsory, there are but 
few mission schools. In such schools as exist, how- 
ever, religious instruction is not forbidden. If the 
mission school conforms to the Government system, 
secularizes and meets the other conditions, it has cer- 
tain privileges which other schools" do not have. It 
may, however, not conform and continue to operate, 
in which case it has the utmost freedom of religious 
instruction in its curriculum. Of this type is our 
Meiji Gakuin, and the Methodist Aoyama Gakuin. 
The option given is : * Conform or stay out.' Here 
the option is: * Conform or close up.' One is an op- 
tion of permission, the other an option of suppression. 
In this they are fundamentally different, and in so far, 
the situation in Korea is more grave than it has been 
in Japan. No liberty of choice is given. It Is secular- 
ize or go out of business." * 

In laying these restrictions the Japanese administra- 
tion in Korea had two things in view. Firsts to hinder 
the work of the missionaries with an infinite amount 
of red-tape technicalities, so that the missionaries 
would gradually leave the country under pressure. In 
this they have partially succeeded, as a number of very 

^Cf. "Japanese Nationalism and Mission Schools in Chosen," 
The International Review of Missions, Vol. VI, No. 21, January, 
1917, pp. 74-98. 



THE PEESECUTIOK OF THE CHUECH 167 

prominent missionaries, long residents of Korea, have 
left the field." The other object the Government had 
hoped to attain was to eliminate the mission schools, 
and thereby compel all Korean children to be trained 
under altered conditions. In this way they could com- 
plete their program of Japanizing Korea in a single 
generation. But in this attempt they have signally 
failed. 

The very attempt to make loyal Japanese out of 
Korean children produced an opposite effect on the 
mind of the Korean youngsters. A few incidents 
typical of the Korean children in their attitude towards 
the Japanese will illustrate this. 

On one occasion in a church two soldiers marched 
rudely in during the service and went right up to the 
women's side, where, as usual, many children were sitting 
with the women. Said one small girl aloud, pointing 
with her thin forefinger : " Look at those Japanese ras- 
cals ! " Another small girl had been counting the gas- 
lights in the church and was saying : " One, two, three, 
four gaslights." " Hush," said a small companion, " don't 
say ' gas,' that is a Japanese word ! " 

A ten-year-old Korean schoolboy was describing a de- 
tested Japanese schoolmaster. He said, " He is short- 
necked with a very thin face. It is the face of a beast 
gradually changed into a man. He shakes his sword at 
us. His eye is like the eye of a snake looking through 
grass. His expression is the expression of a fox un- 
happily pursued by hunters and taking refuge in the 
cleft of a rock. When he looks down at us with wlde- 

^Cf, The Missionary Review of the World, June, 1913, pp. 
450-453. 



168 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

opening eyes, there is no love that can be found in his 
whole appearance, only pride and anger." ^ 

The Japanese officials were getting desperate over 
the failure of their efforts. They were at sea as to 
what step they should take next. Lacking broad-mind- 
edness and sympathetic understanding, they can never 
see the problem in proper perspective. They have an 
exalted opinion of their position and underestimate the 
Korean capacity. They rage at the failure of their 
attempts, and without stopping to find the underlying 
cause. They shift the blame upon the Korean and 
the Christian missionary, but never think of blaming 
themselves. Once a boy of fourteen, under arrest for 
participating in the Independence Demonstration, was 
asked by the officials, " Who put you up to this ? " 
Pointing to the Chief of Police, he answered wittily, 
** There Is the man who made me do it ! " The Japa- 
nese merely thought the boy was crazy. 

When the Independence Movement broke out in 
March, 1919, all the pent-up hatred and suspicion of 
the Japanese officials in Korea towards the Christians 
was given vent. Desecrating the Church and destroy- 
ing mission schools at once became the favourite pas- 
time of the Japanese soldiers. Christians were singled 
out for persecution. A traveller on the highroad 
would be stopped and questioned by Japanese soldiers 
whether he was a Christian. If he was non-Christian, 
he would be released. But If he were a Christian, he 
would be mortally beaten or shot on the spot. 

*" Warring Mentalities in the Far East," Asia, August, 1920, 
pp. 693-701. 



THE PEESECUTION OF THE CHUECH 169 

A Canadian missionary, in a report to his Home 
Board, on April 25, 1919, writes: 

They have questioned all prisoners particularly whether 
the missionaries led the uprising. Thank God, so far, 
our people have had the strength through torture to tell 
the truth. In our town over one thousand Koreans are 
in prison. Many are Christians who are beaten and tor- 
tured in an endeavour to make them say that the mission- 
aries led them into asking for independence. Women are 
kicked and beaten to make them tell where their hus- 
bands and sons are. A woman was brought in here yes- 
terday, her body horribly mutilated, stamped on by 
spurred boots. Just the other day seven were beaten to 
death.* 

A lady missionary, at another place, wrote to the 
Rev. Mr. Armstrong, the Assistant Secretary of the 
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions of Canada: 

A number of churches are being burned. One, where 
the Christians were called together by the authorities, 
was surrounded by soldiers, who fired among them and 
shot many of them; some tried to escape, only to meet 
the bayonet. The building was set on fire, and the sur- 
vivors burned to death— -thirty-one in all. It is worse 
than the Hun, and a holocaust that cannot be beaten by 
the Turk. Torture in the prison is the order of the day. 
Many die under the stripes they receive. It is a reign 
of terror; with the Christians as marked men. Many a 
lash the poor Korean Christians in jail here receive, es- 
pecially when they try to force them to say that the mis- 
sionaries urged the Koreans in their call for independ- 
ence. Schools are closed; our churches are still open, 
though they are closed and being burned in other places. 

^ Quoted by Rev. A. E. Armstrong in an article published in 
The Toronto Globe, Toronto, Canada, July 12, 1919. 



170 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

March 4, with the first cry of Mansei, my husband rushed 
down town. He was gone about an hour. He came back 
crying aloud : " My God ! Such a sight ! Japanese cool- 
ies out with fire-hooks and clubs tearing and rending the 
poor, unarmed Koreans to bits ! " He met my Bible 
woman's husband, dragged along by two coolies, his head 
gashed open and one leg dragging limp. 

This form of Christian persecution aroused vigorous 
protest not only from missionaries in Korea, but also 
from different denominations in America and Canada. 
The Methodist General Conference, which met in Des 
Moines, Iowa, May, 1920, in a resolution passed on 
May 25, vigorously condemned " all forms of national 
aggression, whether military or economic, which in- 
vades the sovereignty of other states. We stand, as 
Christians, resolutely opposed to those groups in any 
and every land which are militaristic in spirit and im- 
perialistic in aim," After deploring the " lamentable 
outrages in Korea during the past fifteen months, 
when under the Japanese rule brutalities, killings, 
burnings and torturings have occurred," the resolu- 
tion poignantly concludes: " Especially would we ex- 
press our sympathy with our fellow-Christians who 
have suffered the loss of Church property and in some 
cases of life itself. While we can ask no special ex- 
emption for any because they are Christians, we have 
a right to ask that none suffer violence or imprison- 
ment simply because they are Christians." * 

^ Submitted by Titus L,owe, Chairman of Committee on For- 
eign Missions, and unanimously adopted by the Conference.' Full 
text found in The Daily Christian Advocate (official organ of the 
General Conference), May 26, 1920. 



THE PEESECUTION OF THE CHUECH 171 

An exhaustive description of Christian persecutions 
by the Japanese in Korea during the year, 1919, would 
fill a volume. The following extract, taken from the 
annual report (1918-19) of the American Presbyte- 
rian Mission Station at Pyeng Yang, is typical of the 
conditions of the Church in its relation with the In- 
dependence Movement. From the description of the 
plight of this one district, the reader may form an 
idea of the fate of other Christian communities all 
over Korea. 

* 51; * H: * * 1= 

To sum up what has been committed against the 
Church in the Pyeng Yang territory by the police, gen- 
darmes and soldiers, in line with the statements made 
above, we give the follov\^ing: 

1. They have arrested many of the leaders of the 
churches, including pastors, helpers, and school teachers. 
Many of the rest have fled for safety, for the Church 
leaders seem to have been singled out for punishment 
and persecution regardless of guilt or innocence. 

2. They have seriously damaged nineteen church 
buildings and broken the bells in. others. 

3. They have expropriated the property of at least 
one Church for other purposes without asking for or 
receiving permission to use the same. 

4. Twenty-six churches have been forced to close for 
periods up to three months and more. 

5. Many church schools have been forced to close in 
both city and country, because of the arrest of teachers, 
for periods up to three months and more. 

6. Helpers, pastors and Bible women have been or- 
dered to stop preaching in many places. 

7. Christian literature has been seized and destroyed 
in many places. 



172 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

8. The police have ordered the non-Christians to 
drive the Christians out of their homes in several places. 

9. All the students in the Union Christian College and 
the Boys' Academy in Pyeng Yang were ordered arrested 
by the Chief of Police whether guilty of any offense or 
not. 

ID. , Christians have been discriminated against in 
many ways, of which the following are typical : 

(a) In the special severity shown Christians in con- 
nection with the spring " clean up." 

(b) In the frequency and severity of beatings admin- 
istered by police in the performance of their official du- 
ties. 

(c) In the special effort to arrest and punish the lead- 
ers of the churches on the ground that they were per se 
leaders, too, in the independence movement. 

11. Christian women in the country have been terror- 
ized by police, gendarmes and soldiers. 

12, The pastor of the Congregational Church for 
Koreans (under Japanese control), Mr. Takahashi, has 
visited certain of our churches and, assisted by police, 
has forced Christians to gather and listen to addresses 
intended to alienate them from the missionaries and their 
present church connection, and attempted to proselyte 
for his church. This was done with the knowledge and 
assistance of petty government officials. 



X 

INDIGNITIES TO MISSIONARIES 

THE Japanese pdicy in Korea towards foreign- 
ers lias been one of gradual, but no less sure, 
exclusion. After the protectorate was estab- 
lished in 1905, Mr. F. A. McKenzie travelled all 
through the interior of Korea as the special corre- 
spondent of the London Daily Mail. In 1907, Mr. 
McKenzie wrote in his book. The Tragedy of Korea: 

Everything that is possible has been done to rob the 
white man of whatever prestige is yet left to him. The 
most influential white men in Korea are the missionaries, 
and they have a large, enthusiastic, and growing follow- 
ing. Careful and deliberate attempts have been engi- 
neered to induce their converts to turn from the lead of 
the English and American teachers and to throw in their 
lot with the Japanese. The native Press, under Japanese 
editorship, systematically preaches anti-white doctrines. 
Any one who mixes freely with the Korean people hears 
from them, time after time, of the principles the Japa- 
nese would fain have them learn. I have been told of 
this by ex-Cabinet Ministers, by young students, and even 
by native servants. 

The lowered status of the white in Korea can be 
clearly seen by the attitude of many of the Japanese 
towards him. I have heard stories from friends of my 
own, residents in the country, quiet and inoffensive peo- 

173 



174 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

pie that have made my blood boil. It is difficult, for in- 
stance, to restrain one's indignation when a missionary 
lady tells you of how she was walking along the street 
when a Japanese soldier hustled up against her and de- 
liberately struck her in the breast. The Roman Catholic 
bishop was openly insulted and struck by Japanese sol- 
diers in his own cathedral, and nothing was done. The 
story of Mr. and Mrs. Weigall typifies others. Mr. 
Weigall is an Australian mining engineer, and was trav- 
elling up north with his wife and assistant, Mr. Taylor, 
and some Korean servants, in December, 1905. He had 
full authorizations and passports and was going about 
his business in a perfectly proper manner. His party 
was stopped at one point by some Japanese soldiers, and 
treated in a fashion which it is impossible fully to describe 
in print. They were insulted, jabbed at with bayonets, 
and put under arrest. One soldier held his gun close to 
Mrs. Weigall and struck her full in the chest with his 
closed fist when she moved. The man called them by the 
most insulting names possible, keeping the choicest 
phrases for the lady. Their servants were kicked. Fi- 
nally, they were allowed to go away after a long delay 
and long exposure to bitter weather, repeated insults be- 
ing hurled after them. The British authorities took up 
this case. There was abundant evidence, and there could 
be no dispute about the facts. All the satisfaction, how- 
ever, that the Weigalls could obtain was a nominal 
apology. 

Then there was the case of the Rev. Mr. McRae, a 
Canadian missionary living in northeastern Korea. Mr. 
McRae had obtained some land for a mission station, 
and the Japanese military authorities there wanted it. 
They drove stakes into part of the property, and he, 
thereupon, represented the case to the Japanese officials, 
and after at least twice asking them to remove their 
stakes, he pulled them up himself. The Japanese waited 



INDIGNITIES TO MISSIONAEIES 175 

until a fellow-missionary, who lived with Mr. McRae, 
had gone away on a visit, and then six soldiers entered his 
compound and attacked him. He defended himself so 
well that he finally drove them off, although he received 
some bad injuries, especially from the blows from one of 
the men's rifles. Complaint was made to the chief au- 
thorities, and, in this case, the Japanese promised to 
punish the officer concerned. But there have been 
dozens of instances affecting Europeans of all ranks, 
from consular officials to chance visitors. In most cases 
the complaints are met by a simple denial on the part of 
the Japanese. Even where the offense is admitted and 
punishment is promised, the Europeans will assure you 
that the men, whom it has been promised to imprison, 
come and parade themselves outside their houses im- 
mediately afterwards in triumph. In Korea, as in For- 
mosa, the policy is to-day to humiliate the white man 
by any means and in any way. 

After driving out all the European and American 
business men by trade discrimination, the Japanese 
Government sought devices by which to eliminate the 
remainder of the foreigners — the missionaries, some 
400 of them — without technically violating the exist- 
ing treaty obligations with the Western Powers. 
When mission board secretaries and prominent Church 
men visit Korea and Japan, they are assured by the 
Japanese authorities that the missionary work In Korea 
is not only unmolested but actually encouraged by the 
powers that be. This Is to create an impression at the 
different missionary headquarters that If ever trouble 
arose between the missionaries and the Japanese au- 
thorities. It would be all due to the Indiscretion of the 
missionaries and not the fault of the Japanese admin- 



176 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Istration. The mission board authorities were thus 
hoodwinked as to the actual difficulties that their work- 
ers were placed under in Korea. Any complaint that 
they sent in against the Japanese in Korea was pigeon- 
holed, as a rule, at the home office. The missionaries 
themselves preferred rather to suffer in silence the 
petty annoyances and official interference of the Japa- 
nese authorities than to make any complaint to their 
Boards. Dr. Brown gives the reason of their reluc- 
tance to criticize the Japanese authorities in these 
words: 

This may be due to the belief that their letters are 
opened by the Japanese, but it is due in larger part to 
their reluctance to criticize the Japanese except when 
forced to do so by their immediate relation to specific 
cases of injustice.'' 

It must be remembered that when a missionary op- 
poses wrong in Korea — the sort in which no decent 
man would acquiesce — he should not be understood as 
opposing the Japanese Government. His opposition is 
on the ground of humanity and justice, of which he is 
the apostle. The missionaries in Korea are, perhaps, 
the most subservient of all Westerners in the Orient. 
They are instructed by their respective Home Boards 
to remain strictly neutral in political matters, and fol- 
low the maxim, " Render unto Caesar the things which 
are Caesar's." The constant petty meddling in their 
work by Japanese underlings, which would not be 
tolerated by any other body of American or British 
*A. J. Brown, The Korean Conspiracy^ Case, p. ii. 



INDIGNITIES TO MISSIONAEIES 177 

residents in the Far East, is taken as a matter of 
course. " Our compensation in enduring the petty- 
persecutions of the Japanese officialdom in Korea," 
said one missionary, " is that we enjoy the respect and 
confidence of all Koreans, both Christian and non- 
Christian, which is a constant source of inspiration to 
us." 

The first overt act of the Japanese Government, in 
their insidious persecution of the missionaries in 
Korea that drew the attention of the West was in con- 
nection with the Conspiracy Case in 1912, when many 
of the prominent missionaries were charged as being 
accomplices in a " plot " to assassinate Governor-Gen- 
eral Terauchi. The Rev. George S. McCune of Beaver 
Falls, Pa., whose unimpeachable character is well 
known among the missionary circles in America and in 
the Far East, was charged as being the ringleader of 
the American missionaries, instigating the Koreans to 
murder the Governor-General. Dr. Charles W. Eliot 
of Harvard wrote from Tokyo, September 4, 1912, 
that no American would believe " that a single Ameri- 
can missionary was in the slightest degree concerned 
with the alleged conspiracy." The charges brought 
against the Americans were so absurd that they re- 
flected no small amount of discredit to the Japanese 
Government in the public opinion of the West.* 

When open persecutions were not possible, the Japa- 
nese would create circumstances and make conditions 
almost impossible for the missionaries to work under. 
One missionary wrote as far back as 1912: 
*Cf. The Continent (New York), June 13, 27, July 35, 1912. 



178 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

It would seem that what the Japanese are aiming to do 
is to hamper our work so that we will have to leave. 
They have always been jealous of our influence and in- 
credibly suspicious- of our designs, and would, no doubt, 
be very glad to get rid of us. Then, too, they are smart 
enough to know that by making the people Christians 
we are making enlightened people of them, who will be 
harder to exterminate or to reduce to serfdom than the 
raw heathens. . . . Our only weapon is public senti- 
ment on the subject in the United States and widespread 
knowledge of the facts.^ 

The missionary had two alternatives: either to en- 
dure the petty tyranny of the Japanese and submit to 
conditions thus created, intolerable though they be, or 
to leave the country. He chose the former, thereby 
incurring more hatred and enmity on the part of the 
Japanese. 

When the Independence Demonstrations began in 
Korea, the authorities requested the missionaries to 
exert their influence and prestige among the Koreans 
to pacify the land. In other words, the missionaries 
were solicited to side with the Japanese to crush the 
Independence Movement with their weapon of moral 
suasion. Bishop Herbert Welch, the resident Method- 
ist Bishop of Korea, represented the missionary body 
as their spokesman. It was, indeed, fortunate for the 
missionaries in Korea to have as their leader a man of 
such high caliber and character as Bishop Welch. 
Thoroughly grounded In scholarship and well trained 
In administration. Bishop Welch went out to Korea 
from the Presidency of the Ohio Wesleyan Unlver- 
' Quoted by William T. Ellis, The Continent, June 27, 1912. 



INDIGNITIES TO MISSIONARIES 179 

sity. He commands the confidence of the Koreans and 
the respect of the Japanese officials. In his conference 
with the Government authorities he flatly refused to 
accept their proposal, saying that (1) complying with 
it would have no effect upon the Movement as the mis- 
sionaries were not consulted by the Koreans in the 
plan of demonstration; (2) it would destroy the con- 
fidence of the Koreans in the missionaries and create 
an impression that the missionaries were siding with 
the Japanese; (3) it would be contrary to the tradi- 
tional policy of missionaries in maintaining strict neu- 
trality in regard to political affairs and, therefore, 
would not be sanctioned by the Home Boards. 

The Japanese Government officially exonerated the 
missionaries from implication in the Independence 
Movement. This was done to sidetrack all responsi- 
bility for the persecutions about to be launched by the 
press and the petty officials under instruction of higher 
authorities. The Japanese newspapers, in Korea and 
Japan, soon came out with inflammatory articles ac- 
cusing the missionaries of being actively connected 
with the uprising. The following excerpts from rep- 
resentative Japanese dailies in Korea, in Japan and in 
America will give the reader an Idea of Japanese senti- 
ment towards foreign missionaries in Korea. 

The Chosen Shimhun, the official organ of the Police 
and Gendarmery Department, at Chemulpo, remarks 
editorially on March 13, 1919: 

Behind this uprising, we see the ghost-like figure wav- 
ing his wand. This ghost is really hateful, malicious, 
fierce. Who is this ghost wearing the dark clothes ? The 



180 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

missionaries and the head of the Chuntokyo. These mis- 
sionaries have come out of the American nation. They 
have sold themselves for the petty salary of some 300 
yen ($150) per year, and they have crept out like reptiles 
on their belly as far as Korea. There is nothing of good 
that can be said of their knowledge, character and dispo- 
sition. 

These messengers of God are only after money and are 
sitting around their homes with a full stomach. The bad 
things of the world all start from such trash as these. 
They planned this dirty work and got into league with 
the Chuntokyo. If we take all this into consideration, 
these missionaries are all hated brutes. 

The Osaka Asahi, one of the noted organs of Japa- 
nese liberalism, directed its editorial fire against the 
activities of Dr. Samuel A. Moffett of Pyeng Yang, 
who has been In Korea for thirty years. After de- 
scribing the mission station at Pyeng Yang and its 
" connection " with the Independence Movement, the 
editorial proceeds: 

The head of the crowd is Moffett. The Christians of 
the place obey him as they would Jesus Himself. In the 
twenty-ninth year of Meiji, freedom was given to any 
one to believe in any religion he wished, and at that 
time Moffett came to teach the Christian religion. He has 
been in Pyeng Yang for thirty years, and has bought up 
a great deal of land. He is really the founder of the 
foreign community. In this community, because of his 
efforts, there have been established schools from the 
primary grade to a college and a hospital. While they 
are educating the Korean children and healing their dis- 
eases on the one hand, on the other there is concealed 
a clever shadow, and even the Koreans themselves talk 
of this. 



INDIGNITIES TO MISSIONAEIES 181 

This is the center of the present uprising. It is not 
in Seoul, but in Pyeng Yang. 

It is impossible to know whether these statements are 
true or false, but we feel certain that it is in Pyeng Yang, 
in the Church schools — in a certain college and a certain 
girls' school — in the compound of these foreigners. 
Really this foreign community is very vile/ 

We would naturally suppose the Japanese publica- 
tions in America would be thoroughly liberal and 
democratic in their views, but, as a matter of fact, they 
are as thoroughly Japanese in their point of view as 
the official organs of their Government. In the L,os 
Angeles Daily News, May 16, 1919, under the title of 
" Images," appears an invective against American and 
British missionaries in Korea in connection with the 
Independence Movement. The following is a trans- 
lation of a portion of the editorial: 

What we hate most is that the fellows who call them- 
selves preachers and religious men participate in this 
low-down, characteristic movement and try to make 
Japan disgraceful to the world by calling her an " image 
worshipper." We feel like breaking the flesh and suck- 
ing the blood of such. It is highly probable that some of 
these privileged preachers, who have been so inoculated 
by the world that they are full of vice, have taken this op- 
portunity in the movement for Chosen (Korean) inde- 
pendence to fan the flame of patriotism in the Korean's 
mind in order to secure the good will of the people. It Is 
really a bad intrigue, which is the result of their arro- 
gance and covetousness. We believe that sooner or later 
their curses will recoil upon them, since the doctrine of 
Heaven (Buddhism, etc.) is everlasting, and the truth is 

* Editorial in Osaka Asahi, March 17, 1919. 



182 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

never to be changed. We believe without a single doubt 
that the so-called Christianity takes the last step into 
destruction ! 

The action of the police and soldiers towards the 
missionaries was in thorough harmony with these edi- 
torial sentiments of the Japanese press. The American 
Consul-General at Seoul was notified to the effect that 
he should warn his nationals to keep off the streets 
after dark, as the authorities would not guarantee to 
protect them. This was significant because at that time 
it was known that 200 thugs were brought over from 
Japan to terrorize the missionaries. In Pyeng Yang, 
the home of Dr. Moffett was guarded by his friends 
every night. Two American missionary women. Miss 
Maud Trissel of Iowa, and Mrs. J. Z. Moore of New 
York, were beaten by Japanese soldiers without even 
a pretext, and another American woman was thrown 
into a ditch by a Japanese soldier while she was quietly 
going about her own business."* 

The American Consul-General at Seoul, Mr. Berg- 
holz, promptly called on the Governor-General Hase- 
gawa, asserting that he would issue no such warning 
and would hold the authorities responsible in case any 
of his nationals were molested by the thugs. He de- 
manded a written guarantee for the safety of the life 
of American citizens, and he did not leave the office 
of the Governor-General until his demands were satis- 
fied. 

* Letter written by Miss Grace I/. Dillingham of Pyeng Yang 
to her friend, Mrs. I. L. Lomprey of Flushing, Long Island, 
published in the New York Tribune, May 6, IQIQ. 



INDIGNITIES TO MISSIONAEIES 183 

This action on the part of Mr. Bergholz insured the 
safety of the life of the American missionaries, but it 
did not go far enough to protect them from insults and 
indignities at the hands of Japanese. " On March 
17, a body of police, led by a procurator, came to the 
Severance Union Medical College, placed guards at 
all the gates and at intervals through the compound, 
and searched the various buildings of the institution." * 
In Pyeng Yang the Rev. Stacy L. Roberts and the 
Rev. E. W. Thwing were marched through the streets 
to the police station only to be released without trial. 
American homes were entered and searched, without 
warrant, in Fusan, Pyeng Yang, Syen Chun and Ham- 
heung. At Fusanchin, two lady members of the Aus- 
tralian Presbyterian Mission, Miss Davies and Miss 
Hocking, were dragged into prison on the absurd 
charge that they were inciting Korean girls to rebel- 
lion. They were compelled to stay in the prison for 
two days with the usual Japanese prison " courtesies " 
handed to them, after which they were released with- 
out trial.^ 

But the most serious cases were those of the Rev. 
Ely M. Mowry of Mansfield, Ohio, and the Rev. John 
Thomas, an English member of the Oriental Mission- 
ary Society. 

The Rev. Mr. Mowry was a teacher of the Union 
Christian College and principal of both the boys' and 

*From a report published in Congressional Record, Vol. 58, 
No. 47, pp. 2847-48, July 17, 1919. 

^ Cf . Bishop Herbert Welch, " The Korean Independence Move- 
ment of 1919," The Christian Advocate, July 31, 1919, p. 973. 



184 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

girls' grammar schools at Pyeng Yang, and he had 
taught there since 1911. He was arrested on the 
charge of harbouring " criminals " in his home, one 
of whom was his Korean secretary. The five boys 
found in his home were all students of his college, and 
had stayed there before. " If I had been informed 
that the police were trying to arrest them and had 
concealed them it would have been wrong," said Mr. 
Mowry at his trial. But he was completely ignorant 
that they were branded as " criminals " by the police. 
His " trial was held after one day's notice to the ac- 
cused," thus making it impossible for him to get a 
lawyer to defend himself.^ After he was tried and 
convicted, then his friends were notified that they could 
have obtained a postponement. 

Dr. Moffett, who attended the hearing in the case 
of the Rev. Mr. Mowry before the district court in 
Pyeng Yang, made a detailed report to the American 
Consul-General, Mr. Bergholz, at Seoul, in which he 
said, " I do not believe Mr. Mowry has done anything 
which renders him liable to law." * 

The Rev. Mr. Mowry was sentenced to six months 
of imprisonment at hard labour. When he appealed 
from this judgment, the sentence was reduced to four 
months. An appeal was made to a still higher court, 
and finally the case ended in the fine of one hundred 
yen as a " face-saving " device for the Japanese offi- 
cials. 

^Report of trial published in the New York Times, June 8, 
1919. 

'^ Report published in Congressional Record, July 17, 1919, pp. 
2854-55. 




To Add Insult to Injury, the Japanese Police Led the Rev. Mr. 
Mowry off to Prison in the Oriental "Fool's Cap." Evidently, the 
American Eagle Has Lost Its Voice in Korea. 



INDIGNITIES TO MISSIONAEIES 185 

The incident that occurred to the Rev. John Thomas, 
a British subject, was of a more violent character. 
The Rev. Mr. Thomas was on a tour in South Choong 
Chung Province. On March 20, he was suddenly at- 
tacked by Japanese soldiers and civilians, without the 
slightest provocation, while he was quietly standing 
by the roadside. When he produced his passport, it 
was thrown on the ground and stamped on, as was 
also a preaching permit which had been given by the 
Japanese Government. He was formerly a man of 
splendid physique. But the cruel beating reduced him 
to a physical wreck. He displayed twenty-nine 
wounds on his body when examined at a mission hos- 
pital. As a result, he withdrew from the Korean mis- 
sion field, being no longer physically able to carry on 
the work. 

The British Consul-General at Seoul promptly took 
the matter up with the Japanese authorities. The 
Japanese apologized for the assault and 5,000 yen 
($2,500) was paid as damages. This is a high tribute 
to the respect that the Japanese Government has for 
British subjects when we consider that not even nom- 
inal apologies were offered when American women 
were assaulted by Japanese soldiers. 

The comment made by the Japan Chronicle on " The 
Attack on Mr, Thomas," is worthy of note: 

Japanese correspondents In Korea, who are so fertile 
In reporting the misdeeds of the missionaries, were ab- 
solutely silent on the subject of the attack on the Rev. 
John Thomas of the Oriental Missionary Society, on 
March 20. . . . Mr. Thomas was, on his release, re- 



186 THE CASE OP KOREA 

quested to sign a paper in Japanese, but sensibly refused 
to do so, as he could not understand its purport. It was 
evidently for the purpose of exonerating the culprits. 

The manner in which this case has been dealt with may 
be instructively compared with the sort of demands which 
would be made if such a thing had happened to a Japa- 
nese gentleman in China, and the silence of the Japanese 
press on the subject may be compared with the storm 
which would have broken had the nationalities been dif- 
ferent. Even the Seoul Press heard nothing of Mr. 
Thomas' case.^ 

It is Japan's policy to keep Korea completely iso- 
lated from the outside world, and the missionaries 
stand in their way. Although they remain strictly 
neutral in political matters and are subservient to the 
Japanese, yet they cannot but observe what is taking 
place in the peninsula; therefore, their presence is not 
wanted by the powers that be. " There is little doubt/* 
writes W. W. Willoughby, the eminent American au- 
thority on the Far Eastern situation, " that if treaty 
engagements and other considerations did not prevent, 
the Japanese would be glad to prohibit Christian mis- 
sionary work in Korea." ^ 

"^ Japan Chronicle, June 5, 1919. 

'^ W. W. Willoughby, "Japan and Korea," The Unpartisan Re- 
view, January, 1920, pg. 24-42. 



XI 

THE MOVEMENT TO RESTORE 
INDEPENDENCE 

JAPAN, in a true sense, has never conquered 
Korea, and the Korean people have never recog- 
nized the Japanese as the rightful masters of their 
land. After entering the country with its military- 
forces at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War on 
terms definitely guaranteeing the political independ- 
ence and territorial integrity of Korea, Japan re- 
mained, gradually shifting her position, through pres- 
sure of this military occupation thus peaceably ob- 
tained in the first instance, from that of a friendly 
neighbour to adviser, from advisership to protectorate 
and from protectorate to final annexation. Through 
the most elaborate system of publicity propaganda 
and diplomatic manoeuvres, Japan created an impres- 
sion in the West that she was absorbing Korea for 
the benefit of the Korean people. Simultaneously, 
military suppression of the most rigid character was 
employed In Korea to crush the nationalistic move- 
ment of the Koreans. 

The Korean people did not all submit to Japanese 
domination so peaceably as the West had supposed. 
When the Korean army was disbanded in July, 1907, 
the soldiers of Major Pak's battalion fought and died 
to the last man against the overwhelming Japanese 

187 



188 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

forces. " Their gallant defense excited the greatest 
admiration even among their enemies, and it was no- 
table that for a few days, at least, the Japanese spoke 
with more respect of Korea and the Korean people 
than they had ever done before." * 

Thousands of Koreans organized into volunteer 
bands to fight, without arms, the Japanese army. 
They were described in the Japanese press dispatches 
as bandits. But they were no more bandits than were 
Washington's Continental Army or Garibaldi's Volun- 
teers. In so far as I know, F. A. McKenzie is the 
only white man who ever visited the fighting districts 
of the Korean volunteers. After describing the hero- 
ism and suffering of the Koreans in a hopeless struggle 
against some 20,000 regulars of the Japanese army, 
Mr. McKenzie concludes: 

The Koreans continued their fight until 1915, when, 
according to Japanese official statements, the rebellion 
was finally suppressed. One can only faintly imagine the 
hardships these mountaineers and young men of the 
plains, tiger hunters and old soldiers must have under- 
gone. The taunts about Korean " cowardice " and 
" apathy " were beginning to lose their f orce,^ 

But fighting still goes on in the remote districts of 
Korea. The clash between 3,000 Koreans and the 
Japanese army at Eun Chin In February, 19S0,^ and 
the more recent clash between Koreans and the Japa- 

* F. A. McKenzie, The Tragedy of Korea, Chapter XIII. 
^ F. A. McKenzie, Korea's Fight for Freedom, p. 170. 
'London Dispatch, February 9, 1920 (Chicago Daily Tribune, 
February 10, 1920). 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 189 

nese garrison at Hunchun, Manchuria, with the sub- 
sequent dispatching of 5,000 Japanese soldiers to the 
troubled district in Manchuria, are the signs of it.* 
Only the Japanese Government no longer calls these 
fighting Koreans bandits. They are called Bolsheviki, 
knowing that the name Bolsheviki would suggest an 
odium in America and Western Europe for these 
Koreans who are fighting to recover their lost country. 
The truth is that they are neither Bolsheviki nor ban- 
dits. They are militant nationalists who prefer death 
to living under Japanese rule. A large number of 
these militant nationalists now reside in Manchuria 
and Siberia ready and willing to make any sacrifice 
for the emancipation of their nation from alien domi- 
nation. A recent dispatch from the Far Eastern Cor- 
respondent of the New York Tribune gives a succinct 
and clear description of these warring bands of Korean 
patriots : 

In Manchuria and Siberia are nearly a million Koreans 
who have been forced to leave their native land. It is 
with these the protagonists of force plan to work. That 
they are drilling many of these is known, as is the fact 
that raids have been made by such bands on isolated Japa- 
nese posts along the Korean-Siberian border. Witlimoney 
that is contributed voluntarily by Koreans inside and out- 
side Korea, arms are being bought from Siberians and 
bands fitted out. The hope of the Koreans of this school, 
a distant hope, they realize, is that some day these bands 
will be numerous enough, strong enough and well enough 
trained for an organized effort to drive the Japanese out 
of Korea. 

^ Press Dispatch from Tokj'o, October 17, 1920. 



190 THE CASE OF KOEBA 

It is the existence of such bands that has given rise to 
reports that the Koreans are allying themselves with the 
Bolsheviki. This is true only in a certain light. It is 
true that the Russians are egging on such Koreans, for 
the Russians have set themselves to oppose and obstruct 
the Japanese in every possible way. Also, they are look- 
ing for a possible partner when they are in a position to 
challenge the presence of the Japanese in Siberia. Also, 
it is true that the Koreans are taking what help they can 
get from the Siberians. This is no way because they 
subscribe to Bolshevik doctrine. It is because they are 
dominated by but one aim — to free their country from 
Japanese rule. To realize that aim they will accept help 
from any source, whether Red Russia or white America.^ 

But the saner element of the Korean people saw 
from the beginning the hopelessness of their cause on 
the field of military combat with Japan. Although 
they agreed with their militant brethren that the Japa- 
nese in Korea must be driven out and Korea restored 
to the Koreans, yet they differed in the methods to be 
pursued. They believed that the lasting results may 
be obtained, under the circumstances, from evolution- 
ary rather than revolutionary methods. The Korean 
people must be thoroughly educated; they must be 
brought tip to the level of material progress on par 
with the Japanese ; and the civilized world in the West 
must be made familiar with their aspirations, so that 
they may depend on moral support, at least, of the en- 
lightened West In their final struggle for freedom. 

Japanese propagandists In America and Europe at- 
tempt to make It appear that the Korean Independence 
*New York Tribune, October 24, 1920. 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPEl^DENCE 191 

Movement of 1919 was brought about through the 
influence of Koreans residing outside of Korea. 
Nothing could be further from the truth. On the 
contrary, the Koreans residing outside of Korea have 
received stimulus and inspiration from the undaunted 
courage and patriotism of their brethren at home. The 
Korean Independence Movement of 1919 was born in 
1905 when Japan forced her protectorate at the point 
of the sword. The Korean's love of country has been 
learned in the losing of it, and the value of liberty in 
the deprivation of it. The process of denationaliza- 
tion, forced upon Korea by Japan, served as a crucible 
in which Korean patriotism was crystallized. During 
the fifteen years of tyrannical domination, Japan, un- 
consciously, and in spite of herself, gave Korea a new 
hope, an ideal and a fighting spirit. Now Korea is no 
longer the Korea of traditional sloth. A fresh im- 
pulse has been generated throughout Korea, and the 
awakening of a vital nationalism has taken place. The 
people have become conscious of the meaning of their 
nationhood, and are sacrificing themselves for the real- 
ization of it. They have opened their eyes to the 
world outside their peninsula and are eager to fall in 
with its step. No longer can the soldier's rifle or the 
gendarme's sword cow them. This is the spirit of 
new Korea — the spirit which brought about the Inde- 
pendence Movement of 1919. 

\ The world war had no small Influence on the grow- 
ing nationalism of Korea. The war aims enunciated 
by statesmen of Allied nations that " no people should 
be forced under a sovereignty under which it does not 



192 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

wish to live " strengthened the fighting spirit of the 
Korean people. When, to the Peace Conference at 
Versailles, the claims of many of the formerly extinct 
nations, including Poland, were presented for adjust- 
ment. President Wilson, as the champion of the rights 
of oppressed nationalities, said in an address: 

We are here to see that every people in the world shall 
choose its own masters and guide its own destinies, not 
as we wish, but as it wishes. 

If any people in the world were entitled to self- 
determination, the Koreans were the people. Their 
ancient civilization, their independent history, their 
homogeneous population, the illegal occupation of 
their country by Japanese against their will, and the 
subsequent tyranny and oppression that would forfeit 
any country the right to rule another — all pointed to 
the justice of their claim. Their cause must be pre- 
sented to the Allied Tribunal of justice. This inten- 
tion of theirs was precipitated by the action of the 
Japanese Government in Korea. It is a curious fact 
that clever people, in their desire to be too clever, often 
show stupidity, and deceitful folk in their method of 
deceiving others frequently deceive themselves. Not 
infrequently the Japanese have shown these traits in 
their dealings with the Korean people. 

In December, 1918, about a month after the Armi- 
stice was declared, the Japanese Government in Korea 
circulated a petition among the Koreans throughout 
the country. It was a petition to be presented to the 
Peace Conference to the effect that the Korean people 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 193 

were sincerely grateful to Japan for her benevolent 
rule over their country, and the Koreans and the Japa- 
nese were fast merging into one people under the most 
benign of all rulers — the Mikado. Other nationalities 
might claim the right to self-determination, but that 
principle should in no wise apply to the Korean people, 
since it was their explicit wish to be loyal Japanese 
subjects. 

Leading Koreans in every community were com- 
pelled to sign this petition by the gendarmes, and they 
had no alternative. The old Emperor absolutely re- 
fused to sign this petition, preferring death to further 
sealing the fate of his people. It had been the life- 
long regret of the Emperor that he did not risk his life 
in 1905 when the protectorate was forced upon him. 
Now, he was ready to go the fulllength towards mak- 
ing reparation and to give the full measure of devotion 
to his people. " Do your worst," he said to the Japa- 
nese, " I am ready for the inevitable." And they did. 
He was poisoned on January 20, 1919. The Japanese 
at first attempted to suppress the news, but when they 
found out that that was impossible, they announced on 
January 23 that the ex-Emperor's death was due to 
apoplexy. No Korean or foreign physicians were per- 
mitted to examine his body. It was the opinion among 
foreign physicians In Seoul, who knew something of 
the physical condition of the ex-ruler, that he was not 
a fat man and that his blood pressure was never high. 
Besides, he had never before shown any signs that 
were conducive to apoplexy. The Japanese officials 
promptly denied that any petition was presented to 



194 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

him and that he was poisoned/ But, of course, no 
Korean would ever believe Japanese official statements. 

Another story became current at this time. It was 
to the effect that the Emperor had committed suicide 
as a protest against the marriage of his son, formerly 
the heir apparent, to Princess Nashimoto of Japan. 
The Japanese Government encouraged the inter-mar- 
riage between Korean and Japanese to quicken the 
process of amalgamation and assimilation in Korea. 
This royal marriage was arranged by the Japanese 
Government to set a precedent for the people to follow. 
This was frowned upon both by the ex-Emperor and 
the Korean people, but they had no choice. As a 
strange coincidence the death of the ex-Emperor took 
place on the eve of the royal marriage, which gave the 
feasible interpretation that he committed suicide as a 
protest. At any rate the Koreans were convinced that 
their former ruler did not die a natural death, for he 
was a virtual prisoner in the hands of the Japanese, and 
they could do with him as they willed. 

The story of the ex-Emperor's death spread like 
wild-fire among the Koreans. While living, the people 
had little love for him because of his failure to fight 
Japan in 1905 when he had a fighting chance. To be 
sure, his fight would have been a hopeless one and the 
result a foregone conclusion. But he should have died 
fighting. The mere fact that he never sanctioned Ja- 
pan's absorption of his country was not sufficient to 

^ This was rumour at first, but later confirmed by Korean palace 
attendants, who saw the Japanese committing the deed, and saw 
the corpse aftei-wards. 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 195 

hold the love and confidence of the people. But now 
he has paid his debt to his fellow-countrymen in full 
measure. He has proved a martyr, though too late. 
Besides, the Koreans looked upon him as the embodi- 
ment of the Korea of yesterday, when the Kingdom 
enjoyed an independent entity in the council of nations. 
In his death the people felt the passing of the old na- 
tion with its tender memories and a peculiar sense of 
pathos. The stupidity of the Japanese Government 
intensified the Korean's national sentiment in connec- 
tion with the ex-Emperor's death. 

When the Meiji Emperor died in 1912, it was 
flashed all over Korea, and the Koreans everywhere 
were compelled to mourn the dead ruler of Japan. 
But the death of the ex-ruler of Korea was not even 
announced in official gazettes of the Government. 
Schools, stores and Government offices were not or- 
dered to close for a day out of respect, as was done in 
the case of the Meiji Emperor's death in 1912. It 
was also decided by the Japanese authorities to conduct 
the funeral according to the Japanese custom within 
the city, and turn the body over to the Koreans after 
it had passed outside the city wall. Needless to say, 
all these things enhanced the Korean sense of national 
humiliation. 

The atmosphere was becoming tense,, and the Korean 
leaders, who had already sent their representatives to 
Paris to plead the Korean case at the Peace Confer- 
ence, were ready to take advantage of the situation. 
Long before this the country had been completely or- 
ganized in districts, with an executive committee in 



196 , THE CASE OF KOEEA 

each, to carry on the work for independence. Now, 
this machinery of secret organization was set in mo- 
tion. 

According to the time-honoured custom of the 
Orient, the Koreans were permitted to gather in cities 
to mourn their deceased ruler with due ceremony. 
This, in so far as I know, was the first time since the 
country was annexed that the Koreans were allowed 
to gather in large numbers. The Japanese authorities 
had, hitherto, prohibited the Koreans from congregat- 
ing or travelling in groups. The people were required 
to have police passports before they could go from 
place to place, even in the same province. The Japa- 
nese authorities evidently thought that allowing the 
Koreans to air their grievances in the form of mourn- 
ing the dead ruler would relieve the bottled-up feeling 
of national injury. The funeral was set for March 
3; the Koreans were given liberty to mourn infor- 
mally or with due ceremony, individually or in large 
groups. 

Meanwhile, Important conferences among the 
leaders took place. Something must be done on the 
day of the funeral to reconsecrate their liberty, to re- 
vitalize Korean nationality and to let the outside world 
know the true condition of Korea. What method 
should they pursue? Two schools were represented 
in the conference — that of physical force and that of 
moral courage. The militant element argued that the 
Koreans have suffered long enough, that they should 
set a day on which all Korea should rise and kill every 
Japanese in the land. There was only one Japanese 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 197 

to every sixty Koreans in the land, and it could be ac- 
complished. Come what may, they would be ready to 
meet the consequences. But thanks to the influence of 
Christianity, the Christians, representing the school of 
moral suasion, opposed this program of wholesale mas- 
sacres. They reasoned with the militant advocates 
that such a procedure was not only fundamentally 
wrong, but the Koreans would pay the heavy penalty 
and would gain nothing in the end. That would give 
Japan an ample excuse to bring her entire military and 
naval forces to massacre the Korean population, and 
the world would justify her action. The Koreans, on 
the other hand, had no arms and no place to procure 
arms. There was not one chance in a thousand by 
which the Koreans would gain anything by resorting 
to force. The Christian policy carried the day. It 
was decided that they should issue the Proclamation of 
Independence on the day of the ex-Emperor's funeral 
declaring that Korea was free. The people should 
have a grand celebration of their freedom — ^waving 
Korean flags and shouting Mansei! The people should 
calmly refuse to recognize Japanese authority, but no 
violence, under any circumstances, should be re- 
sorted to. 

After this program was agreed upon by all the 
leaders, instructions were sent to the Provinces to this 
effect. Thirty-three of the most prominent leaders of 
the people were chosen to sign the Proclamation as the 
representatives of the people. Of this group, there 
were, according to religious classification, fifteen 
Christians, fifteen Chuntokyo followers and three Bud- 



198 THE CASE OF KOEBA 

dhists. tChtlntokyo was founded right after the pro- 
tectorate was estabHshed by Son Byung-hi as a po- 
litico-religious organization. The literal translation 
of the name is the Religion of the Heavenly Way. It 
recognizes the existence of the one Supreme Mind, 
Hananim, which the Korean people have always recog- 
nized. In it are embodied the principles of Christian 
fellowship, Confucian dignity and Buddhist philos- 
ophy. The Japanese Government encouraged the 
propagation of this cult as a counter-active to Chris- 
tianity, until its membership at the beginning of the 
Independence Movement of 1919 reached a million 
and a half. Its leader, Son Byung-hi, is an interesting 
character. His youth was spent in the study of Con- 
fucian classics and Buddhist philosophy. He then 
went to Japan and spent many years in the study of 
material civilization imported from the West. Later, 
he was absorbed in the contemplation of the principles 
as found in the Bible. When he found that his activi- 
ties among his people would be limited by the Japanese 
in Korea unless he sided with them, he created an im- 
pression that he was pro-Korean without being anti- 
Japanese. The Japanese thought they had found a 
powerful ally in Son to fight Christianity in Korea. 
But when the hour struck Son proved to be an entirely 
different man. He was a man of action and of prac- 
tical ideas as well as an idealist and a dreamer. He 
was not only the spiritual guide, but also the political 
leader of his followers. He now headed the list of the 
thirty-three immortals of Korea. 

Two other men of equal eminence were Pastor Kil 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 199 

and Yi Sang-jai. Pastor Kil for many years has been 
the pastor of the largest church in Korea. His name 
is a household word among Korean Christians, and his 
moral leadership was recognized by Christians and 
non-Christians alike. Yi Sang-jai, once Secretary to 
the Korean Legation at Washington, was now a Y. M. 
C. A. leader, but he was held in universal esteem, not 
only by Koreans, but also by Westerners in Korea. 

As the plans were being completed, the Japanese of- 
ficials evidently had an inkling that something was 
brewing, although they did not know what it was. 
Orders were issued to the police all over the country 
to take due precaution for what contingencies that 
might occur on March 3. The Korean leaders 
promptly changed the date of their independence dem- 
onstrations from March 3 to March 1, thus getting 
ahead of the police. 

When the day arrived, plans were completed, or- 
ganization perfected, and the stage set for the demon- 
stration of what Valentine McClatchy, the Publisher 
of the Sacramento Bee, who was in Korea during the 
first week of March, calls " The Greatest Example in 
World History of an Organized Passive Resistance 
for an Ideal." On Saturday, March 1, at two o'clock 
p. M., the Independence Proclamation was read to ex- 
pectant crowds gathered in every city in Korea, with 
cheers of Mansei, Mansei, Mansei! 

The Independence Proclamation follows: 

The Proclamation of Korean Independence 
We herewith proclaim the independence of Korea and 



200 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

the liberty of the Korean people. We tell It to the world 
in witness of the equality of all nations, and we pass it on 
to our posterity as their inherent right. 

We make this proclamation, having back of us a history 
of forty- three centuries and 20,000,000 united, loyal peo- 
ple. We take this step to insure to our children for all 
time to come, life and liberty in accord with the awaken- 
ing consciousness of this new era. This is the clear lead- 
ing of God, the moving principle of the present age, the 
just claim of the whole human race. It is something that 
cannot be stamped out, or stifled, or gagged, or sup- 
pressed by any means. 

Victims of an older age, when brute force and the spirit 
of plunder ruled, we have come after these long thousands 
of years to experience the agony of ten years of foreign 
oppression, with every loss to the right to live, every 
restriction of the freedom of thought, every damage done 
to the dignity of life, every opportunity lost for a share 
in the intelligent advance of the age in which we live. 

Assuredly, if the defects of the past are to be rectified, 
if the wrongs of the present are to be righted, if future 
oppression is to be avoided, if thought is to be set free, if 
right of action is to be given a place, if we are to attain 
to any way of progress, if we are to deliver our children 
from the painful heritage of shame, if we are to leave 
blessing and happiness intact for those who succeed us, 
the first of all necessary things is the complete independ- 
ence of our people. What cannot our twenty millions do, 
with hearts consecrated to liberty, in this day when hu- 
man nature and conscience are making a stand for truth 
and right ? What barrier can we not break, what purpose 
can we not accomplish ? 

We have no desire to accuse Japan of breaking many 
solemn treaties since 1876, nor to single out specially the 
teachers in the schools or the Government officials who 
treat the heritage of our ancestors as a colony of their 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 201 

own, and our people and our civilization as a nation of 
savages, and v^ho delight only in beating us down and 
bringing us under their heel. 

We have no wish to find special fault with Japan's 
lack of fairness or her contempt for our civilization and 
the principles on which her state rests; we, who have 
greater cause to reprimand ourselves, need not spend 
time in finding fault with others; neither need we, 
who require so urgently to build for the future, spend 
useless hours over what is past and gone. Our urgent 
need to-day is the rebuilding of this house of ours and 
not the discussion of who has broken it down, or what has 
caused its ruin. Our work is to clear the future of 
defects in accord with the earnest dictates of conscience. 
Let us not be filled with bitterness or resentment over past 
agonies or past occasions for anger. 

Our part is to influence the Japanese Government, 
dominated as it is by the old idea of brute force which 
thinks to run counter to reason and universal law, so that 
it will change and act honestly and in accord with the 
principles of right and truth. 

The result of annexation, brought about against the 
will of the Korean people, is that the Japanese are con- 
cerned only for their own gain, and by a false set of 
figures show a profit and loss account between us two 
peoples most untrue, digging a trench of everlasting 
resentment deeper and deeper the farther they go. 

Ought not the way of enlightened courage to be to cor- 
rect the evils of the past by ways that are sincere, and 
by true sympathy and friendly feeling make a new world 
in which the two peoples will be equally blessed ? 

To bind by force twenty millions of resentful Koreans 
will mean not only loss of peace forever for this part of 
the Far East, but also will increase the ever-growing 
suspicions of four hundred millions of Chinese — upon 
whom depends the safety of the Far East — besides 



202 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

strengthening the hatred of Japan. From this all 
the rest of the East will suffer. To-day Korean inde- 
pendence will mean not only life and happiness for 
us, but also Japan's departure from an evil path and 
her exaltation to the place of true protector of the East, 
so that China too would put all fear of Japan aside. 
This thought comes from no minor resentment, but from 
a large hope for the future welfare and blessing of man- 
kind. 

A new era awakes before our eyes, the old world of 
force is gone, and the new world of righteousness and 
truth is here. Out of the experience and travail of the 
old world arises this light on the affairs of life. Insects 
stifled by their foe, the snows of winter, are also 
awakened at this time of the year by the breezes of spring 
and the warm light of the sun upon them. 

It is the day of the restoration of all things, on the 
full tide of which we set forth without delay or fear. 
We desire a full measure of satisfaction in the way of 
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and an oppor- 
tunity to develop what is in us for the glory of our people. 
In this hope we go forward. 

We Pledge Three Items of Agreement 

1. This work of ours is in behalf of truth, justice, 
and life, undertaken at the request of our people, in order 
to make known their desire for liberty. Let no violence 
be done to any one. 

2. Let those who follow us show every hour with 
gladness this same spirit. 

3. Let all things be done with singleness of purpose, 
so that our behaviour to the very end may be honourable 
and upright. 

The 4252d year of the Kingdom of Korea, 3d Month, 
1st day. 

Representatives of the people. 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 203 

The signatures attached to the document are : 

Son Byung Hi, Kil Sun Chu, Yi Pil Chu, Paik Long 
Sung, Kim Won Kyu, Kim Pyung Cho, Kim Chang 
Choon, Kwon Dong Chin, Kwon Byung Duk, Na Yong 
Whan, Na In Hup, Yang Chun Paik, Yang Han Mook, 
Lew Yer Dai, Yi Kop Sung, Yi Mung Yong, Yi Seung 
Hoon, Yi Chong Hoon, Yi Chong II, Lim Yei Whan, 
Pak Choon Seung, Pak Hi Do, Pak Tong Wan, Sin 
Hong Sik, Sin Suk Ku, Oh Sei Chang, Oh Wha Young, 
Chung Choon Su, Choi Sung Mo, Choi In, Han Yong 
Woon, Hong Byung Ki, Hong Ki Cho. 



XII 

THE MOVEMENT TO RESTORE INDEPEND- 
ENCE (Continued) 

" ip N our opinion this Proclamation will stand on a 
I plane of exaltation with our own Declaration 

-•^ of Independence," said the Los Angeles Times 
commenting editorially on the Korean Independence 
Proclamation. " Let us listen to the voice of Son 
Byung-hi. It is the voice of a prophet crying in the 
v/ilderness. . . . May God grant a mad world the 
grace to stop and listen to that voice." * *' The whole 
plan had a loftiness and sober dignity of thought and 
speech, in which some fine old strain of Confucianism 
mingled with rich and fervent Biblical phraseology," 
said Sidney Greenbie in a magazine article on the Ko- 
rean Independence Movement. " It was one of the 
most remarkable revolutions in history — and one 
which might well put any Christian nation to shame. 
The instructions issued should be immortal in the an- 
nals of revolt." " 

The conduct of the thirty-three signers of the Proc- 
lamation was truly worthy of these commendations. 
Two of their members were sent to Shanghai the day 
before the Proclamation was issued to carry the news 

* Editorial, "The Dignity of Life," Los Angeles Times, April 
6, 1919. 

^ Sidney Greenbie, " Korea Asserts Herself," Asia, September, 
1919, pp. 921-926. 

204 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 205 

to the outside world. Pastor Kil was late in arriving 
from Pyeng Yang. The remaining thirty met in the 
Bright Moon, the most famous cafe in Korea, to dine 
together for the last time. It was one of the most sig- 
nificant and romantic banquets in history. Every one 
of them present knew what was before him. The die 
was cast, and the hour was approaching. Many of 
them were victims at the Conspiracy Trial of 1912-13. 
Well they remember that Pastor Kil's son and a num- 
ber of others died from the effects of Japanese torture. 
They knew that at the best they must undergo unspeak- 
able torture and flogging, and at the worst they would 
be put to death. They had no delusions. They were 
more than calm and collected; they were happy and 
cheerful to face the approaching fate. 

After drinking a toast to the liberty and independ- 
ence of the Korean people, the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was read and Mansei cheers were given. 
A copy of the Declaration was sent to the Governor- 
General with the compliments of the signers. Then 
they called up the Central Police Station, informing 
the shocked officials of what they had done and added 
that they were waiting for the arrest. The police au- 
tomobile rushed to the cafe and carried them to the 
police station. On their way they were cheered by the 
surging crowd throbbing with new impulse. Old Ko- 
rean flags were seen everywhere. The nation was 
resurrected! When Pastor Kil arrived, having been 
temporarily delayed on his journey from Pyeng Yang, 
he went to the police station and asked to be arrested, 
that he might take his place with his comrades. 



206 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

It was not long before the Independence Demonstra- 
tion took place in every town and village in Korea. 
To all foreigners the movement came like a thunder- 
bolt from a clear sky. The missionaries, who had 
hereto enjoyed the confidence of the Korean Chris- 
tians, were purposely kept in total darkness of the 
plans in order to free them from any possible compli- 
cation with, the Japanese Government. The Govern- 
ment officials, who were cock-sure that they had the 
stranglehold on the Korean people, and that the Ko- 
reans were utterly incapable of organizing any move- 
ment on a large scale, were completely taken by sur- 
prise. They were nonplussed and knew of no other 
method to pursue to suppress the movement except 
that of force. The methods of suppression will be de- 
scribed in the next chapter. Here we are concerned 
only with the extent of the movement. 

One peculiar feature of Japanese rule in Korea, 
which is found in no other country in the world, is its 
spy system. It is incredible from a Westerner's point 
of view. It is true, none the less. In Korea every 
one must be registered and is given a number, which is 
known to the police. Every time he leaves his village 
or town he must register at the police station and state 
fully the business he Intends to transact and his desti- 
nation. The policeman telephones to this place, and if 
the registrant's actions are In any way at variance with 
his report, he Is liable to arrest and mistreatment. A 
strict classification Is kept on the basis of a man's edu- 
cation. Influence, position, etc. As soon as a man be- 
gins to show ability or qualities of leadership, he is put 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDEIsrCE 207 

In class " a," detectives are set on his trail, and from 
thenceforth he becomes a marked man hounded wher- 
ever he goes. Even children are watched or bribed for 
information. If a man escapes the country, his num- 
ber is traced,, his family or relatives are arrested and 
perchance tortured until they reveal his whereabouts. 
A man is likely to disappear any day and perhaps not 
be heard of again. Officially authorized spies are sta- 
tioned in every town and village ; they force their pres- 
ence even into private household parties. Their acts 
are backed by the Japanese gendarmerie, and woe to 
the native who dares to resent their intrusion! He 
will be charged with treason as opposing the Govern- 
ment authorities! The Japanese enlist as sub-spies a 
large number of the worst scoundrels in the country. 
These incorrigibles are paid good salaries, and in many 
cases given rewards for the merit of their work; not 
infrequently the well-to-do natives are blackmailed by 
these spies, and the Government winks at the crime. 
Such abuse of the method might naturally be ex- 
pected, but the worst feature of it all is that it is often 
used as a machine by the Government in relentlessly 
crushing out the spirit of nationalism. If a Korean is 
suspected of keeping alive the spirit of his forefathers, 
the Government instructs its spies to bring certain 
charges against him. Upon the testimony of the spies, 
he will be Imprisoned, his property will be confiscated, 
and he will be punished In such a way as to be disabled 
for life; or he may even be executed on the charge of 
treason. Like the mediaeval " Ironwoman " that 
crushed its victim without bloodshed, this spy system 



208 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

of the Japanese administration in Korea removes from 
the country the ablest and best educated Koreans with- 
out technically violating the regulations of the colonial 
policy of the Japanese Empire/ Indeed, Baron Saito, 
the new Governor-General, admitted the cynical truth 
when he said recently to an Asahi representative that 
all the Koreans of sufficient intelligence or force of 
character to lead their countrymen to higher things are 
either in prison or in exile. " In that one sentence," 
commented the Japan Chronicle, " is a more damning 
indictment than in all that has been written during the 
past year." 

In a country honeycombed with Government spies 
and surrounded by a cordon of soldiers, police and 
gendarmes, the Koreans organized the nation-wide 
revolution and completely outwitted the Japanese, 
keeping them in total ignorance until the last minute. 
This illustrates not only the unity of the people in the 
movement, but also the capacity of the leaders to or- 
ganize and the willingness of the people to follow the 
lead along the right direction. Writing in the New 
York Times, the Rev. A. E. Armstrong, the Assistant 
Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the 
Presbyterian Church in Canada, who was in Korea 
until March iTth, said: "Foreigners marvel at the 
ability and thoroughness with which the Koreans or- 
ganized and are carrying on the campaign. Even the 
oldest British and American citizens had no idea that 

^ For fuller discussion of the Japanese espionage In Korea, see 
the present writer's The Oriental Policy of the United States, 
Part II. 




^M 



0«H 



S5 




MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE INDEPENDENCE 209 

the Koreans were capable of planning and conducting 
such a widespread rebellion." ^ 

Demonstrations consisted of reading the Independ- 
ence Proclamation, one or two short addresses by 
leaders, then waving Korean flags and shouting 
Mansei. It was held in front of every one of the 
foreign consulates in Seoul. The whole country was 
mapped out in districts with leaders in each to hold 
these demonstrations. In a city like Seoul or Pyeng 
Yang, several demonstrations were held in different 
sections of the city at the same time. The old Liberty 
Bell in Chongno broke its long silence, the Korean flag 
above the Independence Arch outside of Seoul was 
painted afresh, and the historic watchfire from the top 
of Namsan in Seoul and Moranbong in Pyeng Yang 
once again signalled freedom. 

It was soon seen that all classes of people were in- 
volved in the movement. Shopkeepers closed their 
stores, and policemen, who had worked under the 
Japanese, took off their uniforms and joined the dem- 
onstrations. The students from both Government and 
private schools absented themselves with the result 
that the schools had to be closed. Farmers in the 
country gathered In their respective districts to cele- 
brate, and threatened that they would not plant their 
crops if independence was not granted. 

The Korean employees on the state-owned railroads 
and the street railway employees have come out on sym- 
pathetic strikes. And a careful examination of the in- 
jured In the hospitals shows that the coolie class also has 

* New York Times, April 23, 1919. 



210 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

furnished a proportionate quota of the people who are 
engaged in the uprising. 

If further evidence is wanted it would seem to be 
supplied by the fact that the very prisoners in the peni- 
tentiary heard of the movement, made Korean flags, and 
held a demonstration until it was put down by force/ 

The literati, the most conservative element of the 
Korean population, also joined the demonstrators. A 
group of them sent a petition to the Governor-General, 
demanding the withdrawal of Japanese soldiers from 
Korea and the restoration of Korean independence. 
Needless to say, they were promptly arrested. 

The extent of the movement and how it permeated 
through all classes and strata of society can easily be 
realized when it is noted that men ennobled by the 
Japanese and considered true friends of Japan repudi- 
ated their titles and stood by the demonstrators. Two 
of the most famous of these nobles were Viscounts 
Kim Yun-sik and Yi Yong-chik. Viscount Kim was 
senior peer, head of the Confucian College, and had 
been active in Korean affairs for nearly three-quarters 
of a century. He was now eighty-five, feeble and bed- 
ridden. He and his colleague. Viscount Yi, sent a dig- 
nified petition to the Governor-General asking him to 
deal with the situation in a sympathetic way and to 
stop the atrocities on the defenseless. There was 
nothing in the petition to which the Governor-General 
should have taken offense.^ 

* From an unpublished manuscript of an American missionary 
in Korea. 
' See full text of petition, Appendix VI. 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEE UsTDEPENDENCE 211 

The two nobles were at once arrested, and with them 
various male members of their families. Kim was so 
ill that he could not be immediately moved, and a 
guard was placed over his house. In the trial, held at 
Seoul in July, Viscount Kim was sentenced to two 
years of penal servitude, and Viscount Yi to eighteen 
months. 

The movement was kept up despite military suppres- 
sion. The Koreans were unflinchingly determined to 
continue their work for freedom till the end. In order 
to do so, they saw the necessity for creating organic 
machinery to carry on the function. On April 23, 
1919, at a time when the persecution was at its height, 
delegates from each of the thirteen provinces of Korea 
met in Seoul, framed a constitution creating a Repub- 
lic and elected the first Ministry. 

The Constitution, in general, outlined the repre- 
sentative form of Government, guaranteeing to citi- 
zens such rights as freedom of speech, liberty of wor- 
ship, right of petition, equality before the law, etc. 
The Ministry was composed of the President, the Pre- 
mier and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, 
War, Finance, Justice, Education, Communication, 
Labour, and the Chief of Staff. The personnel of the 
Ministry was most significant. Every one of the men 
elected had been in public affairs in Korea in the past. 
The President of the Provisional Government of the 
newly created Republic, Dr. Syngman Rhee, may be 
taken as an illustration. 

Like Thomas Masaryk of the Czecho-Slovakian Re- 
public, Dr. Rhee is a scholar as well as a statesman. 



212 THE CASE OF KOREA 

He took an active part in the reform movement of 
1894, suffering long imprisonment as the result. 
After release, he came to America, graduated from 
Harvard, and received the degree of Doctor of Philos- 
ophy at Princeton under Woodrow Wilson. In 1910 
John R. Mott sent him out to Korea to represent the 
International Y. M. C. A., but he had to abandon his 
work on account of Japanese obstruction. He went to 
Hawaii, started a magazine,, The Korean Pacific Maga- 
zine, and conducted a Korean school. When the dele- 
gates from the thirteen provinces met in Seoul, in 
April, 1919, Dr. Rhee was unanimously elected as the 
President of the Provisional Government of the Re- 
public of Korea. He has many books to his credit, 
and his name is a household word among Koreans 
everywhere. 

Many spokesmen for Japan take delight in ridicul- 
ing the Provisional Republic of Korea as being a 
" paper Republic " on the ground that the seat, and 
most of the officials, of the Government are outside of 
Korea, and none of the Powers have, as yet, recog- 
nized the newly organized Government. They seem 
to forget that the Continental Congress was not recog- 
nized in 1776 by any of the Powers, and that the Bel- 
gian Government was not in Belgium during the 
World War. When the United States Government 
recognized the belligerency of Czecho-Slovakia, Sep- 
tember 3, 1918, not a single member of the National 
Council of Czecho-Slovakia was in his own country. 
Mr. Masaryk was in Washington, Mr. Stefanik was in 
Vladivostok, Mr. Benes was in Paris, other members 




Dr. SYNGMAN RHEE 
In April, 1919, delegates from the thirteen provinces met in Seoul and 
unanimously elected him President of the Republic of Korea. 



MOVEMENT TO EESTOEB INDEPENDENCE 213 

were in London or Rome, and the National Council 
did not have the physical possession of a single foot of 
territory in the country itself. The people, however, 
had organized and had elected the members of this 
National Council to act as their Provisional Govern- 
ment. The United States, being convinced of this 
fact, recognized the status of the Czecho-Slovakian 
Government. 

To the Korean people, this new Government of 
theirs is de facto and de jure. They are willing to 
fight for it and to die for it. As a Korean clergyman 
expressed it, " We will do our duty and leave the rest 
to God." No sacrifice is too great or hardship too 
severe for them to endure in their fight for liberty. 
When all the people of a nation believe in the ideal of 
liberty, it is not an easy task to suppress, even for those 
who are more experienced and less near-sighted than 
the Japanese, Wholesale massacres and burning of 
towns described in the following chapters only illus- 
trate the incompetency of Japan to handle the situa- 
tion. If there ever were a nation that was incapable 
of ruling others, it is Japan, Her record in Korea is 
incontestable testimony that she possesses none of the 
qualities of a ruling nation. Bewildered at the cour- 
age, ability and patriotism of the Koreans, and utterly 
incompetent to face the situation created largely 
through her own greed and treachery, Japan sits upon 
the safety valve while the boilers beneath her crack 
from expansive pressure. 



1 



XIII 

JAPAN AMUCK 

"A HE Independence Demonstration, which be- 
gan on March 1, 1919, was a passive one in 
the literal sense of the word. It was " a 
great orderly demonstration by the people simulta- 
neously all over the Empire, of their desire for free- 
dom. There were no attacks on Japanese property or 
persons — simply a cessation of labour, and a gathering 
of the people for orderly demonstration under the 
catchword, Mansei. The Koreans, en masse, did not 
even try to retaliate when the Japanese attacked them. 
They used neither clubs nor weapons of any sort. 
And it was against people like these — against pathetic 
dignity and high-mindedness in revolt that the Japa- 
nese retaliated with atrocities that rival those in Bel- 
gium and Armenia." * 

The Independence News, the official organ of the 
Independence Movement, continually instructed the 
people not to use violence under any circumstances — 
not even In self-defense. This newspaper, which ap- 
peared every day during March, April, May, and still 
appears periodically, was a Korean counterpart of La 
Libre Belgique in the romantic and daring accompani- 

^Asia, September, 1919, p. 925. 
214 



JAPAN AMUCK 215 

merits of its production. The ingenuity of the Korean 
in editing this mimeographed sheet would furnish 
abundant material for a highly interesting detective 
story. The staff was organized in such a way that 
the minute one member was arrested or disabled phys- 
ically by the soldiers, another member would step into 
his place. It was published in caves, in fishermen's 
junks, in an artificially made grave at the churchyard. 
Its distribution was so arranged that it was scattered 
all over the country, not only among the Koreans, but 
also among the Westerners and the Japanese ; the Gov- 
ernor-General found two copies on his desk every 
morning. The Japanese were completely baffled. 

Police sergeants in the corner sentry boxes found 
copies on their benches, prison guards found them dis- 
tributed in the cells. Hundreds have been caught in 
distributing the paper and far more arrested on suspicion 
in connection with its publication, but if among these 
have been the editors, that has not prevented its con- 
tinued appearances. No sooner is one group satisfactorily 
found guilty of responsibility for it than it again appears 
on the table of the procurator who conducted the prosecu- 
tion.* 

The outwitting of the Japanese soldiers and police 
by the Koreans only aggravated them to further atroc- 
ities. The first plan of the Japanese was to attack 
every gathering of people and disperse it, and to arrest 
every person who took part in the demonstrations or 
was supposed to have a hand in them. But it was not 

* " Korea's Rebellion, the Part Played by Christians," Scribner's 
Magazine, May, 1920, pp. 513-530. 



216 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

very long before all the jails in the country were full, 
police stations were crowded, and every available place 
in which to huddle the arrested was occupied. Sol- 
diers, police and gendarmes were instructed to fire into 
crowds of demonstrators and to use their swords 
freely. Whenever there was a crowd gathered, the 
soldiers would charge them with fixed bayonets, cut- 
ting and jabbing the unarmed and defenseless men, 
women and children, who only waved their flags and 
cried Mansei. 

The first line was cut down and ridden down by 
mounted men, the second came on shouting, Mansei. 
Every man and woman in that line knew what was before 
him, every man and woman had seen the penalty paid; 
it meant brutal beatings, arrest, torture and even death. 
They did not quiver. When one procession was broken 
up, another formed and marched straight at the waiting 
troops. Only cheering, waving their flags and cheering. 
We have all heard, we Westerners, that in the Eastern 
peoples there is no physical courage. Yet I can think of 
no finer courage, even heroism, than that of these people 
who, without resisting, without means of resistance, 
knowing the horrible fate that was before them, went on 
to it without flinching, without fear or regret.* 

There were not enough soldiers and gendarmes and 
police to disperse the demonstrations simultaneously 
going on all over Korea. Japanese civilians were given 
carte blanche to assist their ofiicers in the reign of 
terror. Firemen were sent out with poles with the 
big firemen's hooks at the end. A single pull with one 
^Nathaniel Pqflfer, The Truth Ahwt Korea, p. 23. 




Japanese Soldiers Guarding the Streets of Seoul to Shoot Down Any One 
Who Dare Cry "Long Live Korea." 




NOT A GARDEN WALL BLT KOREAN SHOPS WITH SHUTTERS UP 

During the Independence Demonstrations the Korean Merchants went on 

a Shopkeepers' Strike to Show Their Sympathy with the National Movement. 



JAPAN AMUCK 217 

of these hooks meant death or horrible mutilation for 
any person it happened to strike. 

In describing the deeds of these deputized firemen, 
an American witness writes: 

Two girls were dragged by the hair from a house near 
the mission hospital, tied to a telegraph post by their 
hair, horribly beaten by deputized firemen and then led 
off to jail. While the crowd were parading the streets 
the police and soldiers ran their weapons deliberately into 
unresisting bystanders because they happened to be in 
their way. In front of the prefect's office one defenseless 
Korean was run down and killed by two firemen armed 
with pikes. The corpse was dragged along the ground 
and away by the slayers. Old men, women and children 
have been indiscriminately abused, beaten, cut down with 
swords, struck by firemen armed with pikes, pierced by 
bayonets, and never a man has resisted the military. The 
passive revolt has been true to its name here. Because 
we foreigners have seen all, we are not only persona non 
grata to the Japanese, but in real danger of our lives. 
It is reported that hired thugs are wandering about the 
city at night to waylay whom they may. It is becoming 
increasingly questionable whether we foreigners can re- 
main here during the continuance of the trouble.'' 

Not only the soldiers, the police, the gendarmes and 
the deputized firemen, but Japanese civilians did their 
full share of the work of human butchery. Whenever 
there were any signs of demonstration, the Japanese 
civilians, without being requested, rushed out dropping 
whatever they were doing to lend aid to their soldiers 
and police. They seemed to take delight in doing it. 
An English resident in Seoul wrote at the time: " Ad- 
* Philadelphia Evening Ledger, April i6, 1919. 



218 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

ditional provocation is furnished both in Seoul and 
elsewhere by Japanese civilians who arm themselves 
with clubs and iron hooks and charge down upon the 
demonstrators. Their work is voluntary, and it looks 
as though a race war threatens." * 

This is the part which is hard for the Koreans to 
forgive the Japanese, no matter what atonement Japan 
may make. When there is a possibility of mob vio- 
lence in a community, it is the duty of every good citi- 
zen to assist the minions of law to preserve law and 
order. But in this case there was no occasion for 
Japanese civilians to volunteer their services in com- 
mitting unspeakable outrages. Photographs of the 
victims of Japanese brutality, taken by American phy- 
sicians at the Severance Hospital, are so gruesome and 
horrible that th^y do not bear publication. The das- 
tardly deeds of Japanese in suppressing the demon- 
strations are set forth in the findings of the Federal 
Council of the Churches of Christ in America, The 
Korean Situation, Authentic Accounts of Recent 
Events by Bye- Witnesses. I take the following Ex- 
hibit from the report as an illustration. 

Death of a Korean Young Man by Name of 
Koo Nak Soh 

On March 27, at about 9 p. m., a large body of young 
men gathered at Andong, Seoul, and shouted Mansei. 
The shouting had continued for a few minutes when a 
large force of police, gendarmes and soldiers arrived and 
dispersed them. The above-named young man, like the 
others, was peacefully going home and alone, was walking 

* Quoted in the Literary Digest, May 31, 1919. 



JAPAN AMUCK 219 

along a small street when suddenly some one pushed him 
violently in the back, causing him to stumble and fall. His 
assailant was a policeman, who had seen him in the 
crowd and followed him to the place where he thought 
fit to make the attack. After throwing him to the ground 
the policeman drew his sword and literally hacked at him 
" like a woodsman would attack a rough old oak." His 
skull was cut right through so that the brain was visible. 
This had been accomplished by at least three sword cuts 
falling in or near the same place. His hands were ter- 
ribly cut ; his left wrist was also cut through to the bone. 
Those who saw the corpse stated that there were twenty 
sword cuts, but the photograph reveals only ten. 

After this brutal attack on this unarmed and defense- 
less young man the officer ran away, leaving him in his 
terrible agony to expire in a few minutes. Some Ko- 
reans, happening to pass by, carried him to the nearest 
native hospital (Kuck Chai Hospital), but little could be 
done, so they placed him on a stretcher and started out 
for the Severance Union Medical College, still thinking 
that his life might be saved. While hurrying to the Sev- 
erance Hospital they were stopped by a policeman from 
the Honmachi police station, who spoke to them in a 
threatening way and did all he could to prevent the case 
being taken to a foreign hospital. They remonstrated, 
saying that the case was so serious that a delay in taking 
the man to the Japanese hospital, which was some dis- 
tance away, would surely result fatally. The Japanese are 
naturally anxious that such cases should not be seen by 
foreigners. On arriving at the Severance Hospital, medi- 
cal examination revealed the fact that the man was al- 
ready dead. It is impossible to say just when he died. 
His dead body presented the most pitiful appearance. 
Numbers of sword cuts had mutilated his head and hands. 
His clothing was saturated with blood — indeed, a sight 
never to be forgotten. 



220 THE CASE OF KOREA 

During the following day his little cousin, a mission- 
school girl, stood watch over his body in the morgue; 
nothing would persuade her to leave the remains of the 
one she loved. Another life has been sacrificed for the 
cause of Korean liberty. " We hope that the great God 
who sees our pitiful state will come ere long and judge 
in righteousness and justice." 

(Note. — The deaths so far are estimated at about 
1,000, while those in prison number about 6,000. The 
people have not one rifle or sword among them. They 
lift up their empty hands and call upon God and all those 
who knowing Him love righteousness and justice.) 

The Rev. Edward W. Thwing, formerly of Boston, 
the Secretary of the International Reform Bureau at 
Peking, China, was in Pyeng Yang, Korea, during 
March. After his return to Peking, he issued a signed 
statement which follows : 

Peking, China, April 5, 1919- 
In a remarkable manner, the Korean Independence 
Movement has manifested skill, courage and organization 
that has been a great surprise to many. It has shown, 
more than ever before, how unreasonable, without justice, 
cruel and brutal the military rule of Japan is in this land. 
I could hardly believe these things if I had not seen them 
with my own eyes. 

The police and soldiers have arrested old men and 
little children and cruelly beaten them. Little girls of 
only ten years of age, women and schoolgirls have been 
shamefully treated and subjected to physical punishment 
and torture for no other crime than shouting with peace- 
ful enthusiasm for their own country and crying out for 
the independence which Japan had guaranteed by solemn 
treaties. 

These things have been witnessed not by one or two, 



JAPAN AMUCK 221 

but by scores of missionaries and others in many parts of 
Korea during March. If the world could only know 
these things it would certainly heed this cry of distress 
from an oppressed people. But the Japanese are doing 
all they can to keep the world from knowing the truth. 
A report has just come that in one city, from which 
letters have been sent, they are making it very hard for 
the missionaries, even hinting at deportation, unless they 
stop telling out the truth. 

The following are some of the things that I have 
actually seen with my own eyes. 

Small schoolboys knocked down and cruelly beaten by 
Japanese soldiers. This was not a question of arresting 
them, but savage, unjustifiable barbarism. 

Soldiers stop and deliberately fire into a crowd com- 
posed only of girls and women, who were simply shouting 
Mansei. 

A small boy of ten years shot through the back. 

An unresisting old man of sixty-five years, pounded, 
kicked and beaten by several Japanese soldiers until he 
could not walk. 

A crowd of about twenty schoolgirls, who were quietly 
walking along the public road, not even shouting, chased 
by soldiers, beaten with guns, knocked down, and so 
shamefully treated that it made one's blood boil. 

Japanese firemen, chasing boys and girls, with long 
iron hooks trying to catch them with them. 

A Korean in a hospital, paralyzed, with his head 
crushed in with one of these hooks. 

A man dying, shot through the back. 

One hundred men with torn and bloody clothes, tied 
together with ropes, taken to jail. 

Two Koreans so injured that they could not walk, tied 
down on a springless cart and brought to jail. 

Men standing by, having no connection with the demon- 
stration, and yet knocked about, and attacked by soldiers, 



222 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

who will attack any one, without regard to what they are 
doing. 

An American missionary roughly arrested, while stand- 
ing in his own yard, and looking on, but doing nothing 
else. 

Women knocked down with guns, and kicked into the 
ditch. 

These and many other things I have seen with my 
own eyes. Other foreigners have seen the same and 
worse. One can little imagine the reign of terror in all 
parts of this land, at the very time when the Japanese 
peace delegates are talking of " humanity and justice and 
equality of races." They don't know the meaning of 
these words. And the punishments and tortures at the 
police stations and jails make a still more awful story. 
I have seen men who were beaten on wooden crosses by 
the Japanese. 

And why is all this cruel punishment given? Not for 
rioting, or for resisting arrest. I have not seen one case 
of this; not for carrying dangerous weapons; they have 
none; but just for shouting out the desire of their hearts 
for the independence of their country.^ 

These fiendish methods of suppression did not 
weaken the Independence Movement. On the con- 
trary, the movement was kept up with increasing 
strength. The persecution, in fact, did not keep pace 
with the rising spirit of liberty. In April the Gov- 
ernor-General passed an ex post facto law to punish 
those leaders arrested in March. They were not dealt 
with so summarily, as in the case of ordinary demon- 
strators, because of their wide acquaintance among 
foreign communities in Korea. Meanwhile, the Japa- 

^Associated- Press Correspondence bj' mail (Philadelphia 
Inquirer, May 25, 1919) = 



JAPAN AMUCK 223 

nese Government sent over 6,000 soldiers and 400 
gendarmes to carry on systematic suppression of the 
Independence Movement. 

The Koreans still maintained their passive resist- 
ance. " Do not hit the Japanese, not even in retalia- 
tion," The Independence Nezvs advised the people. I 
have talked with scores of American and British wit- 
nesses about Japanese atrocities in Korea, and all were 
unanimous in stating that the Koreans were absolutely 
non-resisting. There was one exception ; that was the 
following incident related to me by an American mis- 
sionary. 

On the fourth day of the demonstration, a Korean 
student in Union Christian College, in Seoul, saw a 
Japanese civilian dragging a Korean girl by the hair 
through the street and beating her. Evidently, she 
was from a Christian family and was out on the street 
shouting, Mansei. Despite the strict instructions of 
the leaders — that the Koreans should refrain from vio- 
lence of any kind — the sight of this outrage was more 
than the young man could stand. It was bad enough 
for the soldiers and gendarmes to commit outrages, 
but when a civilian was beating an innocent girl, the 
instructions of the leaders could be ignored. The Ko- 
rean student seized the Japanese, trampled on him, and 
gave him a sound thrashing. By this time gendarmes 
came along, cut off both arms of this young man for 
beating the Japanese and dragged him off to prison. 
This American missionary saw the father of the young 
man the next day and consoled him, whereupon the 
aged man replied with tears, " I have no regrets for his 



224 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

losing both arms — not even if he does lose his life for 
such a noble and manly act." 

No Korean escaped the brunt of Japanese atrocity. 
From the learned scholar to the ignorant coolie, from 
the city merchant to the country farmer, from school 
children of eight and nine to men past threescore and 
ten, the bludgeon of the Japanese beat upon all alike. 
But the most abhorrent feature of the brutality was the 
treatment of women and schoolgirls. The world will 
never know all the suffering and heroism of the Ko- 
rean women under Japanese domination. What has 
been observed by foreigners in Korea is only a small 
part of the maltreatment that has been going on every- 
where in the peninsula. Mrs. Robertson Scott of 
England, who was in Korea while the Independence 
Demonstrations were going on, writes: 

They have need of all their marvellous physical, moral 
and spiritual courage in the fight they have begun. No 
physical humiliation or personal indignity has been spared 
the Korean girl patriots at the hands of a police largely 
recruited from the lowest class in Japan. A young girl — 
and fourteen seems the age of courage — speaking of a 
group of fellow-students, who had just emerged from 
several days* detention in the Seoul police station, said, 
" They did not look like persons." 

The best spirit of modern Korea is to be found in the 
beautiful words of a Korean peasant woman to a tyran- 
nical Japanese official. " I am sorry for you Japanese. 
You do not know how you must suffer before you come 
to that place of wide and glad prosperity." . . . One 
of the head Japanese teachers addressed a large class of 
Korean girls at the time of the uprising. He said : " We 
have trained you in this institution for several years, and 



JAPAN AMUCK 225 

I hope you will marry Japanese husbands." " We all 
will," they replied laughing, and the next day all of these 
girls were out on the street shouting, ManseV 

William R. Giles, the Far Eastern correspondent of 
the Chicago Daily News, visited Korea shortly after 
the uprising. In a signed dispatch to his paper, Mr. 
Giles described the " horrible conditions that made the 
blood boil. I have seen and photographed those who 
came out of prison after they had received the regula- 
tion ninety blows. Among those whom I visited a few 
hours after their release were men of the highest edu- 
cation and of good families. Old men from seventy 
to eighty years of age were flogged until they were a 
mass of bleeding sores, from which many of them 
never recovered. Unless properly attended by a phy- 
sician, gangrene sets in, and then the case becomes 
hopeless. Others are so nerve-wracked they will never 
again regain their normal strength. Every attempt is 
made to prevent the marks showing when the men are 
released, and at the same time everything that science 
can bring to bear to cause more suffering, is utilized." 

Horrible as is the punishment inflicted upon men, 
yet more horrible and revolting to the extreme is the 
treatment of women, Mr. Giles found. He continues: 

In spite of all the brutality and suffering they have to 
put up with, they are still strong in the belief that an end 
will come to their suffering; that they will gain the sym- 
pathy of the world and eventually a better form of Gov- 
ernment. I could tell many stories of how they are 

^"Warring Mentalities in the Far East," Asia, August, 1920, 
pp. 693-701. 



226 THE CASE OF KOBE A 

treated In the prisons, but the following instance of what 
happened to an innocent eighteen-year-old girl, from 
whom I obtained the story direct, will be sufficient to 
give the reader an idea of how women are treated by the 
Japanese military authorities. 

The girl told me that she arrived in Pyeng Yang at the 
end of April, having been telegraphed for by her father 
to come home. As soon as the train stopped the Japa- 
nese police seized her and topk her to the police office. 
There they told her she had been shouting for the inde- 
pendence of Korea, that she had led an evil life — a 
favourite accusation of the Japanese police — ^and had said 
things against Japanese rule. The girl said she was inno- 
cent of all wrong. The police then beat her on the head. 
This being unsuccessful they placed pieces of wood be- 
tween her fingers, held the latter tight and began to twist 
the sticks until she fainted. When she came to they or- 
dered her to make a confession, but having nothing to 
confess, she was unable to comply with their demand. 
They then stripped her naked and beat her very severely. 
Then they placed a heavy weight on her head and made 
her stand naked for three hours. She again fainted and 
the treatment caused her to vomit blood. She had to 
undergo the same treatment seven times in fourteen days. 
Eventually, she became so ill that the police were com- 
pelled to call in the Japanese doctor, who gave her some 
medicine. The doctor told the police officials that the 
girl was very ill, and that she had to be sent either home 
or to a hospital. The police then released her. When I 
saw the girl she was absolutely broken in health.* 

All during the period of the reign of terror, the 
Japanese newspapers in Korea cooperated with the Im- 
perial Government in conducting editorial atrocities 
against the Koreans. Not only did they justify the 
* Chicago Daily News, October 13, 1919. 



JAPAN AMUCK 227 

action of their Government and nationals in their 
method of suppressing the passive revolution, but they 
continually vilified the Korean people. Not even those 
dailies which were considered very liberal in their 
views ever advanced a single disapproval of the atroci- 
ties. On the contrary, they were unanimous in urging 
the authorities to adopt harsher measures and advising 
their nationals to cooperate with the officials against 
the Koreans. A British resident of Seoul, in a com- 
munication published in The Japan Advertiser, suras 
up his observations as follows: 

1. That some remedy other than repression by brute 
force must be resorted to, for German methods are out 
of date. 

2. That the studious misrepresentation of the Koreans 
as a degraded and decadent people must cease. Given 
equal facilities they are able to produce an administrative 
class equal to that among the Japanese. 

3. That the widespread conviction that American in- 
fluence is at the back of this Korean agitation must be 
counteracted, for there is no ground for it. Have you 
heard that already three British subjects have been 
wrongfully imprisoned and one of them was severely be- 
laboured by a Japanese mob of civilians and gendarmes 
under the impression he was an American? And this 
kind of thing is bound to increase while the local Japa- 
nese press continue to insert abusive articles regarding 
foreigners. 

The foreign community in Korea maintain a neutral 
position, but they observe the facts, and one cannot but 
protest against the cruelties practised towards defenseless 
people in this unhappy peninsula." 

* Quoted in The Literary Digest, May 31, 1919. 



228 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

It is impossible to give an exhaustive description of 
the various methods employed by the Japanese in their 
attempt to crush the Korean Independence Movement. 
From the evidence cited in this chapter the reader must 
infer the rest. The following extracts, taken from a 
lengthy article published in the Toronto Globe, To- 
ronto, Canada, July 13, 1919, by the Rev. A. E. Arm- 
strong, the Assistant Secretary of the Board of For- 
eign Missions of the Canadian Presbyterian Church, 
will conclude this chapter. The Rev. Mr. Armstrong 
was in Korea in March, 1919, and saw some of the 
conditions. He reports that the Japanese were not 
satisfied with persecuting the Korean in Korea alone, 
so they extended their fiendish work to Korean settle- 
ments in far-off Manchuria. 

Some deeds here are too terrible to write about. At 
one place fifty-four unarmed Koreans were killed by the 
Japanese and piled in a heap to be buried next morning. 
Through the night some of the friends stole quietly near 
to see if any were alive, and found five living under the 
heap of dead; two of these died later and three lived. 
At another place seventy-five miles from here thirty were 
killed. 

;): ^ if 3): 4^ >!: 4( 

A lady missionary writes : 

" I saw on March 4 the Koreans being clubbed by the 
Japanese Fire Brigade with clubs of hardwood, iron bars, 
long lance poles with steel hooks on the end. These low- 
down men were protected by policemen and soldiers. All 
the Koreans had done was for some of them to cheer 
Mansei; then these firemen came out and charged when- 
ever they saw a crowd of Koreans. Men, women or 



JAPAN AMUCK 229 

children — it made no difference. They began clubbing 
them over the heads until the skulls were split, necks and 
shoulders torn, blood streaming, and were dragged to 
prison in this condition. I never was in such a position 
in my life. I walked through the scene, was ordered off 
by the gendarme captain, but would not leave. The 
sight was enough to make the poor Koreans try in some 
way to defend themselves, but they had not a weapon, 
neither did they speak an angry word ; they kept perfect 
control of themselves. So far as we know no Koreans 
have used violence. Whenever this is stated, know that 
Koreans have first been murdered. 

"At Sunk-dok the Koreans were fired on by the gen- 
darmes in the market for cheering Mansei, and four 
killed. At Sing-hung the same was repeated and four 
killed and four wounded. A woman passing by with a 
water jar was shot through the neck and killed. At an- 
other place, near here, two were killed as they cheered. 
The sight of blood and the dead enraged the Koreans, and 
they caught and bound the gendarme in charge. He got 
free next day and began shooting into the houses ; a num- 
ber were killed and wounded. To-day, the people of that 
whole countryside are hunted like deer and sent to prison. 
What I saw this week was nothing to the sights in other 
places. That was the begmning, and it has continued. 
They think the foreigners egged the Koreans on, whereas 
the Koreans, in their deep regard for us, kept us in igno- 
rance of their plans, lest we perish. All the leaders (Ko- 
reans) of all churches are imprisoned. We meet for 
regular service here, but half our folk are in jail." 

4: 4^ H: H: 4: ^ H< 

I shall refer to just one other region, this time in the 
far north, not in Korea at all, but in China, in the Kando 
district of Eastern Manchuria, where Koreans have mi- 
grated by tens of thousands. Though it is Chinese terri- 
tory where the Japanese have no right to be exercising 



230 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

any control, yet on the ground that the Koreans are Japa- 
nese subjects, soldiers and police are to-day perpetrating 
the same frightful Prussian-like atrocities as in Korea. 

A letter written May 24 states : 

" To-day, we have authentic news of the burning of 
fifteen villages and the shooting of Koreans as they es- 
caped. There is reported to be only seven survivors. 
Some thirty Christian churches have already been burned, 
and in many cases the members of the congregations have 
been burned in the buildings. The Korean doctor and 
Secretary of this hospital have both fled for their lives, 
and our druggist and two surgical assistants are living in 
the hospital to avoid being beaten to a pulp. I have 
photos of many who have been beaten and limbs almost 
wrenched out of their sockets. Also photos of nineteen 
dead bodies in our basement laundry, victims of rifle fire 
from Chinese who were forced on the Koreanjs by Japa- 
nese police. One of our Christian girls, the wife of the 
Christian boys' school teacher, was arrested, and had all 
her clothes torn off her by police when being searched and 
beaten. This was because she did not know where her 
husband was hiding." 

4: 3^ :(: :(! 3|c 4: 3|c 

The foregoing are but samples of the reign of terror 
now prevailing in the Korean Peninsula. Having but 
recently returned from Seoul, the capital of Korea, I am 
in a position to write with accuracy of the nature of Japa- 
nese militarism. It is absolutely Prussian to the core. 
Nay, worse. The Japanese military system is modelled 
on the German system, and when there is added to it the 
Oriental fine art of cruelty, there is a resultant combina- 
tion which leads many, who know the system as it oper- 
ates in Korea, to speak of it as surpassing the Huns and 
the Turks in inventive barbarity and fiendish ferocity. 



XIV 

MASSACRES 

WHAT has been set forth in the preceding 
chapter relates largely to methods pursued 
by the Japanese in cities under the observa- 
tion of foreigners. In country districts, where there 
were no foreigners to chronicle the events, villages 
were wiped out and wholesale massacres took place. 
What little observations made by foreigners in the re- 
mote districts were a small percentage of the burnings 
and massacres which took place all over Korea. In a 
signed statement forwarded to the Federal Council of 
the Churches of Christ in America, an American resi- 
dent describes a massacre in northern Korea, at 
Maungsan, as follows: 

During the first part of March, after the people at this 
place had shouted for independence, fifty-six people were 
asked by the gendarmes to come to the gendarme station, 
which they did. When they were all inside the gen- 
darmerie compound, the gates were closed, gendarmes 
climbed up on the wall and shot all the people down. 
Then they went in among them and bayoneted all who 
still lived. Of the fifty-six, fifty-three were killed, and 
three were able later to crawl out of the heap of dead. 
Whether they lived or not is not known.* 

Mr. William R. Giles, whom I quoted in the preced- 
* The Korean Situation, p. ^z. 
231 



232 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

ing chapter, in a statement issued at Peking, June 14, 
1919, after his visit to Korea, declares; 

In a valley in southern Korea, about fifty miles from 
Fusan, the Japanese soldiery closed up a horseshoe- 
shaped valley surrounded by high hills, and then shot 
down the villagers who attempted to escape by climbing 
the steep slopes. More than one hundred persons were 
killed in this affray. . . . 

The people are like sheep driven to a slaughter house. 
Only an independent investigation can make the world 
understand Korea's true position. At present the groan- 
ings and sufferings of twenty million people are appar- 
ently falling on deaf ears. 

In central Korea, near Suwon district, about thirty 
miles from Seoul, fifteen villages were completely 
wiped out of existence by the Japanese soldiers and 
gendarmes. Many foreigners in Seoul, including 
British and American Consular officials, visited these 
devastated districts and made direct representations to 
the Governor-General. " It was impossible for any 
evidence to be brought forward to disprove their state- 
ment," wrote an American in Seoul at that time. 
" The fact that so many foreigners visited the scene of 
this useless burning and murdering has forced the 
Government to take steps, which otherv/ise it would 
never have taken. They are fully aware that it is use- 
less to deny, as they did in other cases, that these acts 
of inhuman brutality did not take place ; the evidence 
is too strong against them." The Governor-General, 
after receiving reports from the foreigners who visited 
the burned districts, expressed his regret and added 
that the guilty would be punished, which would mean, 




A Japanese Officer "Explaining" to an American Missionary Why the Christians at 
Chai-amm-ni Were Massacred and the Cburch Was Destroyed. 




RUINS OF CHANG-DURI 
Only a Few Earthen Jars Left of a Formerly Prosperous Christian Hamlet after the 
Japanese Soldiers Had Paid It a Visit. 



MASSACEE3 233 

as one Westerner pointedly commented, " very likely 
that the perpetrators would be promoted to higher 
posts." 

Whether the soldiers, guilty of massacring the inno- 
cent people, were actually promoted to higher posts or 
honourably dismissed from the Japanese army is not 
known. But it is a proved fact that they were never 
punished, and burnings and massacres continued, de- 
spite the assurance given by the Governor-General at 
that time that such outrages would never occur again. 
The following description of three devastated villages 
in the Suwon district, given by an American who vis- 
ited them, furnishes a vivid picture of what has been 
going on in the remote parts of Korea ever since 
March 1, 1919. 

Chai-amm-ni 

On Thursday, April 17, news was brought to Seoul by 
a foreigner that a most terrible tragedy had occurred in 
a small village some fifty li (seventeen miles) south of 
Suwon. The story was that a number of Christians had 
been shut up in a church, then fired upon by the soldiers, 
and when all were either wounded or dead, the church 
was set on fire insuring their complete destruction. Such 
a story seemed almost too terrible to be true, and being of 
such a serious nature, I determined to verify it by a per- 
sonal visit. On the following day I took the train to 
Suwon, and from there cycled to within a few miles of 
the village; knowing the strenuous objections that would 
be made to my visit, I made a detour of several miles 
over a mountain pass, to avoid the police and gendarme 
station which I knew was near the village. 

Before entering the village I questioned many people 
as to the reported burning of villages, but none had any 



234 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

accurate information, and all were very much afraid to 
speak about the affair. I finally met a boy who lived in 
the village where the massacre had occurred, but he abso- 
lutely refused to tell me anything. He protested his 
ignorance — terrorism was bearing its fruit — the people 
were almost paralyzed with fear. 

Making a sharp turn in the road I came suddenly into 
the village, and to my surprise, found a number of Gov- 
ernment officials, military and civil, holding an investiga- 
tion. After a conversation with some of these officials, 
I was allowed to further look over the village and take 
some photographs. From Koreans I could get practically 
no information — they appeared to be dazed and stupefied, 
especially the women, while the younger men pretended 
ignorance of any details. 

The appearance of the village was one of absolute deso- 
lation; about eight houses remained; the rest (thirty-one) 
with the church had all been burned to the ground. All 
that remained were the stone jars of pickles and other 
edibles; these stood in perfect order among the ruins. 
The people were scattered about sitting on mats, or 
straw ; some had already improvised little shelters on the 
adjoining hillside, where they sat in silence looking down 
in bewilderment at the remains of their happy homes. 
They seemed bereft of speech ; they were probably trying 
to fathom why this terrible judgment should overtake 
them, and why they should suddenly become widows and 
their children orphans. There they sat, helpless and for- 
lorn, entirely overcome by the calamity that had over- 
taken them. 

Before long the Government party left the village, and 
when the officers were well out of sight, the tongues of 
some of these poor frightened people loosened, and they 
revealed to me the story of the outrage, which follows : 

On Thursday, April 15, early in the afternoon, some 
soldiers had entered the village and had given orders that 



MASSACRES 235 

all a(iult male Christians and members of the Chuntokyo 
(Heavenly Way Society) were to assemble in the church 
as a lecture was to be given. In all some twenty-nine 
men went to the church as ordered and sat down won- 
dering what was to happen. They soon found out the 
nature of the plot as the soldiers immediately surrounded 
the church and fired into it through the paper windows. 
When most of the Koreans had been either killed or 
wounded, the Japanese soldiers cold-bloodedly set fire to 
the thatch and wooden building which readily blazed. 
Some tried to make their escape by rushing out, but were 
immediately bayoneted or shot. Six bodies were found 
outside the church, having tried in vain to escape. 
Two women, whose husbands had been ordered to the 
church, being alarmed at the sound of firing, went to see 
what was happening to their husbands, and tried to get 
through the soldiers to the church. Both were brutally 
murdered. One was a young woman of nineteen — she 
was bayoneted to death ; the other was a woman of over 
forty — she was shot. Both were Christians. The sol- 
diers then set the village on fire and left. 

This briefly is the story of the Massacre of Chai- 
amm-ni. The blame for this cannot be placed on the 
shoulders of the ignorant and boorish Japanese soldiers 
— officials higher up were cognizant of it, if not directly 
a party to the plot. It is impossible that the strict dis- 
cipline which prevails in the Japanese army would allow 
any private soldier or sergeant taking such responsibility 
upon his shoulders. 

SU-CHON 

The hamlet of Su-chon is beautifully situated in a 
pretty valley some four or five miles from Chai-amm-ni, 
where the previously reported massacre occurred. But 
the hand of the despoiler had been there, and his finger 
prints, black and brutal, lay heavily upon the landscape. 



236 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

The narrow streets were lined with ash heaps; out of 
forty-two cottages eight alone remained. Little attempt 
had been made to clear away the debris by the survivors, 
for they had no sense of security of life and property, 
and they apparently feared that any attempt to gather 
their things together would only bring fresh disasters. 
Some few old women were sitting by their few belong- 
ings — their grief had overcome them — and they were 
listless and indifferent. I could not help thinking that, 
perhaps, they were wishing that they had perished in the 
cruel flames that had swept away their homes and robbed 
them of all their earthly comfort. There were some little 
children picking herbs in the fields — they must have 
something to eat, and all their stocks of rice and other 
food had been destroyed. The police and soldiers being 
absent, the people flocked around me and seemed anxious 
to tell me of their misfortunes. They had recovered from 
the first shock, but were in constant fear lest the soldiers 
should come back again and destroy them in the same 
brutal way that they had destroyed their homes. 

The following is the story of the destruction of the 
village : 

On April 6, before daybreak, while all were sleeping, 
some soldiers had entered the village and had gone from 
house to house firing the thatched roofs, which quickly 
caught and destroyed the houses. The people rushed out 
and found the whole village blazing. Some tried to put 
out the fire, but were soon stopped by the soldiers who 
shot at them, stabbed them with their bayonets or beat 
them. They were compelled to stand by and watch their 
village burn to ashes. After completing this nefarious 
work, the soldiers left them to their fate. I was informed 
that only one man was killed, but that many were seri- 
ously injured. I inquired if the wind had spread the fire 
from house to house. The reply was that the village 
was on fire at several places at the same time, and that 



MASSACEES 237 

the soldiers carried matches and set fire to the thatch of 
many houses. 

I could find no real reason for this useless burning 
down of a village and making a number of people home- 
less. By such acts Japan is hardening the hearts of 
Koreans against her. The people are now beginning to 
feel that the Japanese intend to kill them whether they 
are innocent of doing any wrong or not, and are arriving 
at the conclusion that if they have to die, they may as 
well do so striving for the liberty of their country. They 
have to die anyway, so what is the good of their trying 
to live within the bounds of the law — such as it is — 
when it is impossible for them to obtain justice in any 
shape or form. 

Wha-su-ri 
Wha-su-ri must have been a picturesque village before 
the barbarous troops of His Majesty's Government trans- 
formed it into an ash-heap. The village is surrounded by 
wooded hills, which slope towards the valley of fertile 
paddy fields. In the center of the village there had been 
a lovely " country residence," which had a tiled roof and 
gateway. Now it is nothing but a huge heap of broken 
tile, dirt and brick. Some thought that the owner had 
fled, others said that he had been imprisoned, but no one 
really knew what had happened to the " squire." Out 
of some forty odd houses eighteen remained. No wind 
had spread the fire ; something more sure, more definite, 
more cruel — the hands of Japanese troops whose hearts 
must have been filled with murder. Apart from the defi- 
nite statement of the people to this effect, there was the 
evidence of the burnt houses. In some places burnt and 
unburnt houses alternated. And the space between burnt 
and unburnt houses frequently was some distance. As 
usual, all that remained were the earthenware jars used 
by every Korean household to hold pickles and water. 
Groups of such pots and the charred ruins of the wood- 



238 THE CASE OF KOREA 

work, the ashes and debris, were all that remained of 
the erstwhile happy homes. Nothing had been saved 
from the flames — this could not be allowed by the sol- 
diers of Japan. The devastation must be complete. A 
blanket, a sack of rice, a bowl or spoon could not be 
saved on pain of death, so one feels justified in char- 
acterizing the refugees as absolutely destitute. Many 
of the poor people, whose homes had been burnt down, 
had been welcomed by more fortunate neighbours, to 
share their comforts of bed, food and fire, while others 
were living under little straw shelters. 

The following is the story of the burning of the vil- 
lage : 

On April ii, some time before daybreak, the vil- 
lagers were suddenly aroused out of their sleep by the 
sound of firing and the smell of burning. Running into 
the open they found soldiers and police firing the houses 
and shooting and beating the people. Leaving every- 
thing, they fled for their lives, old and young, the moth- 
ers with their babies at their breasts, and the fathers 
with the younger children — all of them fled to the hills. 
But before they could make good their escape, many 
were murdered, shot by the soldiers, wounded and beaten, 
while a number were arrested and taken to jail. 

It is not a long story, but one is made to pause and 
think and to visualize the scene. Think of its occurring 
to your own home, to your own village ; picture the dark- 
ness, the shooting, the beating, the screams of the women 
and children, the flames, and then the firing of the sol- 
diers on those trying to escape.'' 

The Rev. Albertus Pieters of Japan in an article, 
" The Moral Failure of Japan in Korea — Responsi- 
bility of the Japanese Government and Nation," de- 

'For fuller description of the massacres and burnings in 
Korea, consult The Independence Movement in Korea (pam- 
phlet), published by the Japan Chronicle, Kobe, Japan, 1919. 




:r* 



'" f-ivfJ cO*--^ jTJ,!'^ ■!«»,- 




"The Hamlet of Su-chon is Beautifully Situated in a Pretty Valley. . . . But the Hand 
of the Despoiler Had Been There. . . . Out of Forty-two Cottages only Eight Remained." 




"Wha-su-ri Must Have Been a Picturesque Village before the Barbarous Troops of 
His Majesty's Government Transformed it into an Ash Heap. . , , All that Remained 
were the earthenware Tars." 

HANDIWORK OF JAPANESE SOLDIERS 



MASSACEES 239 

nounced the massacres as "unprovoked, deliberate, 
cold blooded murder, for which no sort of mitigation 
or excuse has been alleged." " This was not an act of 
war," said the Rev. Mr. Pieters; "no state of war 
exists in Korea, or could very well exist, as the people 
have been completely disarmed. Neither was it done 
by a few rowdy or intoxicated soldiers, who had got- 
ten out of hand, but by an organized detachment act- 
ing under orders of their regular officers. There was 
no resistance or riot to be quelled at the time." After 
stating that the Governor-General and the officials 
under him could not escape the responsibility of th,e 
crime, the Rev. Mr. Pieters continues: 

But is there no further responsibility, beyond that of 
the Governor-General? What about the moral respon- 
sibility of the Japanese people at large ? With the deep- 
est concern I have been waiting for the past month, as, 
I am sure, have many other friends of Japan, to see 
whether there might be moral feeling and moral courage 
enough in Japan to find expression in a public protest 
against this outrage. I have waited in vain. The Japa- 
nese residents in Korea outnumber the foreigners many 
times over, and among them are men of high education 
and prominent position. The facts were as accessible to 
them as to the foreigners, but it was left to the latter to 
wait upon the Governor-General and protest again at this 
crime. Why was there no delegation of prominent Japa- 
nese doing the same thing? 

Tokyo is the nerve center of the Empire, the home of 
meetings and demonstrations of every kind. I looked 
and hoped for some expression of indignation frcim the 
Japanese people originating there, but nothing happened ; 
no indignation meeting, no burning protests in the press, 



240 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

no denunciation by any political party, no evidence o£ any 
kind of concern for the welfare of the Koreans, for the 
maintenance of righteousness, or for the honour of the 
Empire. I am reminded forcibly of what a friend said to 
me at the time of the " Conspiracy Case " : " The 
trouble with the Japanese is that they lack the capacity 
for moral indignation at wrongs done to others." It 
really seems so. The " capacity for moral indignation " 
is lacking, and hence, it is a matter of no concern to the 
Japanese that unarmed Koreans are shot, bayoneted and 
burned by men in the uniform of the Empire. 

Do not the Japanese people see that such things in- 
evitably affect the world's judgment of them? An out- 
rage by Japanese troops, if an isolated case, promptly 
disowned and properly punished, would be readily for- 
given; but not this apathy that gives itself no trouble 
to protest. That becomes a measure of the national char- 
acter, an index of the fitness of the race to associate on 
equal terms with civilized mankind and to be entrusted 
with the destiny of undeveloped peoples. It has been 
said that in the long run every people has the Govern- 
ment it deserves to have. It may equally be said that in 
the long run every people has the kind of army it de- 
serves to have. Those of us who loved and honoured 
the Germany of history strove for a long time to make 
a distinction between the German people and the German 
military machine, but the attempt broke down in the face 
of cumulative evidence that the nation approved the do- 
ings of the army. The German army was what it was 
and did what it did because the German people are what 
they are and love to have it so. Not in one generation 
or in two will the world be able to look upon the German 
people with the old respect. The same road is open to 
the Japanese, and there is but too much reason to fear 
they are walking in it.' 

* The Shanghai Gazette, June S, 1919. 



XV 

" SPEAKING OFFICIALLY " 

WHEN stories of torture and cruelty to prison- 
ers became current among the missionary- 
community, the Seoul Press ran a couple of 
editorial articles pointing out that the Koreans were 
" atrocious liars," and that the stories of cruelties had 
been investigated and that the prison authorities assured 
them that no tortures were taking place. When a mis- 
sionary showed this article to a Japanese, he naively re- 
plied that it was intended to mean that there had been 
no tortures since they had been sent to a certain prison. 
Another foreigner discussed the editorial with the editor 
of the paper, who replied that he knew there were cruel- 
ties, but that in making that statement, he was " speaking 
officially." ' 

The scope of this chapter will not permit the full 
discussion of the various phases of the Japanese 
method of controlling publicity. For that I must re- 
fer the reader to my other book. The Oriental Policy 
of the United States, in which I have attempted an 
exhaustive treatment of Japan's propaganda. Here I 
shall touch only on those points that have direct bear- 
ing upon the Korean question. 

For years Japan has controlled the incoming and 

^From a report of a Committee of American Missionaries, 
published in Congressional Record, Vol. 58, p. 2847, July 17, 1919. 

241 



242 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

outgoing news of the Japanese Empire, and it is steril- 
ized and coloured so as to best serve the purpose of 
propaganda. The Kokusai (Japanese National News 
Agency) is a subsidized concern and operates under 
the direct supervision of the Japanese Government. 
It must be remembered that all cable and telegraphic 
communications in Japan ane owned and controlled by 
the Government. The Kokusai can magnify or mini- 
mize, as well as create or suppress, any news item that 
goes in and out of the country according to the wishes 
of the Government. 

The control of the postal system is equally rigid. 
Opening private letters is a part of the Governmental 
system of Japan, and is in perpetual practice, in time 
of peace as well as in time of war. If a Korean in 
America should write a letter to his friend or relative 
at home concerning the Japanese administration in 
Korea, the officials not only destroy the letter, but also 
punish the receiver. This policy serves a double func- 
tion for the Government: (1) The Koreans in Korea 
not only must be silent on the political situation at 
home in their communications to their brethren abroad, 
but cannot receive such communications; (2) Foreign 
residents in Korea must not criticize the Government 
either in or out of Korea if they wish to live unmo- 
lested. If an American resident of Korea should make 
a public address or write a magazine article while in 
America criticizing the Japanese administration, that 
speech or article will be reported back to Korea by the 
Japanese secret service in America. Then the Ameri- 
can will be questioned by the officials on his return, 



''SPEAKING OFFICIALLY" 243 

and if his explanations are not satisfactory, the Gov- 
ernmental discrimination is such that he will have to 
leave the country. That is the reason for the volumi- 
nous reports and signed affidavits on Japanese atroci- 
ties in connection v\rith the Korean Independence 
Movement of 1919, which were brought to America 
through underground channels, published in maga- 
zines, newspapers and pamphlets by various mission 
boards and friends of American missionaries in Korea 
under a nom de plume. 

The Japanese Government not only seek to suppress 
the news as to what they are doing in Korea, but create 
news favourable to their policy. One of the first 
things the Japanese did in Korea, after establishing 
their protectorate, was to create a bureau to publish an 
English annual, entitled. The Annual Report on Re- 
forms and Progress in Chosen. This English publi- 
cation is attractively gotten up with many photo- 
graphic illustrations and is distributed gratis to all 
great men and big libraries in America and Great 
Britain. It tells how the degenerate Korean race is 
being led along the path of modern civilization by the 
wise and humanitarian statesmen of Japan; and that 
the Korean people are thoroughly happy, contented 
and prosperous under Japanese rule. 

The vast majority of American and British publi- 
cists and statesmen take the official statements of the 
Japanese Government as being based upon facts ; they 
never stop to Investigate that the Japanese Govern- 
ment compile statistics to prove their hypothesis, not 
to show facts, and that official statements are made 



244 THE CASE OP KOREA 

not to inform, but to misinform, the unsuspecting 
Western public. However, there are a number of men, 
both in America and Great Britain, who know some- 
thing about the tactics of the Japanese, and who do not 
swallow, so easily the official bait of the Japanese Gov- 
ernment. Thus, the late Walter E. Weyl, a member 
of the New Republic staff, who was in Korea in 1917, 
writes: 

On the whole, Japan has tended to use force rather 
than persuasion and repression rather than freedom. 
There has been, and there still is, a strict political censor- 
ship. The full measure of Japanese success in Korea 
could be more easily ascertained and more readily ac- 
knowledged if there were greater freedom in the penin- 
sula, were there not an official terrorism which covers up 
abuses and ruthlessly represses public opinion or free 
expression of discontent. Possessing only the official 
Japanese version of the progress in Korea, we are forced 
to accept all reports with a grain of salt, not disregard- 
ing the excellent work accomplished, but recalling at 
least that we have here a subject population, deprived of 
primary civil and political rights, unable to express dis- 
approval, repressed and silent. If, in such a situation, 
one is grudging in praise, the fault lies with Japan's mili- 
tary authorities, who, in their wisdom, have deprived us 
of the right to hear the evidence in the case."" 

Dr. William Elliot Griffis, the author of the 
Mikado's Umpire and Korea — the Hermit Nation, 
minces no words In condemning the Japanese methods 
of covering up their abuses by official reports. Says 
Dr. Griffis: 

^Harper's Monthly Magazine, February, 1919, p. 397. 



"SPEAKING OFFICIALLY" 246 

In fact and truth, the day has gone by when any Gov- 
ernment dare resent as " interference with its domestic 
concerns " the protest of civiHzation against such atroci- 
ties as Japan permits in Korea, The brutahties of her un- 
derhngs in that country, whose venerable civiHzation is 
menaced with destruction, can no longer be concealed. 
As for the Tokyo Government, or any of its literary 
bureaus, attempting a camouflage, that is impossible even 
with a censorship that is like that of a blockaded enemy 
country in time of war. The united testimony of many 
witnesses, long resident in the land of the Morning Calm, 
speaking the vernacular and beholding deeds which they 
have associated hitherto only with the worst brutalities 
of war, will, in the end, outweigh the moral value of 
official bulletins or even annual publication of " re- 
forms." ^ 

Cooperating with the Annual Report is the Seoul 
Press, the only English daily in Korea. It is sub- 
sidized by the Government and fulfills the functions 
of informing the West as the Japanese would like to 
have it informed. It is said by foreign residents of 
Korea, and admitted by Mr. Yamagata, the editor of 
the Press, that Mr. Yamagata has two consciences — 
one official and the other personal. Whenever he 
creates a " fact " or garbles a news item, his official 
conscience is dominant and his personal conscience re- 
cessive ; therefore, he Is not responsible. At a meeting 
of Japanese officials and a number of prominent Amer- 
ican missionaries during the Independence Demonstra- 
tions of 1919, " the question of the actuality of atrocl- 

^ William Elliot Griffis, "An American View," The Nation 
(New York), Vol. io8, No. 2812, p. 830. 



246 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

ties was raised. Dr. Moffett gave his own personal 
experience as an eye-witness. In a private conversa- 
tion with Dr. Moffett, Mr. Yamagata cheerfully ad- 
mitted that he was convinced of the truth of the atroc- 
ities, but he said that the denials, as published in the 
Press, were * official' " * 

The following account of the burning of a Christian 
church at Tyungju by Japanese soldiers, made public 
by the Headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in 
America, at New York, illustrates the kind of " facts '* 
published in the Seoul Press. 

The Burning of Tyungju Church 
We give two accounts herewith of the burning of the 
church at Tyungju, North Pyeng An Province. The one 
is by the Seoul Press, a Government-controlled paper, 
and the other by the pastor of the church, an American 
missionary, who saw the church and made careful in- 
vestigations. The reader is at liberty to draw his con- 
clusions : 
Christian Church Burned. {Seoul Press, April 13, 

1919)- 

" On Tuesday, at six a. m., fire broke out in a Chris- 
tian church at Tyungju, site of a district office in North 
Pyeng An Province, and the whole building was re- 
duced to ashes. 

" The loss is estimated at 10,000 yen. 

" It is suspected that some Koreans, detesting the pur- 
poseless agitation, have been driven by their bitter in- 
dignation to commit incendiarism at the expense of the 
church." 

The following is from the pastor of the church: 

" Burning of Tyungju Church — On April 8, gendarmes 

* The Korean Situation, p. 28. 



"SPEAKING OFFICIALLY" 247 

came to the large newly built church in Tyungju City, 
gathered the mats and other furniture together, and set 
fire to them. They also put out the fire. The Christians 
have been bending every energy to the building and pay- 
ing for this building. 

" On April 9, at night, as on the 8th, a large pile of 
combustible material was heaped upon the pulpit and 
set on fire. A deacon of the church rang the bell, and a 
few Christians came together and put it out. The next 
morning the police commanded the Christians, who had 
houses near the church, to move away, the pretext being 
that they had set fire to the church. 

" On April 10, combustibles were put all about the 
church, and soaked in coal oil, and then set on fire. 
They, also, rang the bell, but no one came, and the 
church burned to the ground. 

"On April 11, the wife of the pastor and some of 
the church officers were called up and rebuked for burn- 
ing the church. They also gave them a lecture on what 
low-down rascals the Christians were, stating that not a 
single person would come out to help put out the fire. 
As a matter of fact, any appearing on the streets at night 
are severely beaten, and otherwise mistreated. 

" There was a statement in the Japanese press that 
Christians set the church on fire to show their disap- 
proval of the leaders of the church in the Independence 
Movement, No comments needed." 



It is unnecessary to say more. These articles speak 
for themselves. The reader can judge of the attitude of 
the press when the Government permits such stuff to be 
printed. As the press always is under the censor there, 
when such stuff is' printed the Government becomes 
morally responsible. The truth is prohibited. False- 
hoods and libels are allowed. Such a course of action 



248 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

only endangers the relations of the Governments con- 
cerned.* 

The foreign visitor in Korea must not learn the 
actual conditions if the Japanese can help it. Thus, 
for example, if a distinguished American comes to 
Korea, he is met at the pier by a polished official guide 
who is conversant in Western manners and customs. 
He is directed to a hotel (usually the Chosen Hotel 
which belongs to the Japanese Imperial Railway) ; he 
is interviewed by Japanese officials who explain the 
condition of the country to him; he is taken here and 
there; he is entertained until his own appreciation of 
himself grows immeasurably. He is flattered and 
handled so skilfully that he leaves the country in a 
haze of happy delight over the wonders he has been 
shown and the wonderful courtesy and hospitality of 
the showing. He returns to America praising the 
Japanese for the wonderful work that they are doing 
in Korea. The following paragraph from the pen of 
Elsie McCormick, who visited Korea in March, 1920, 
is interesting: 

True to certain predictions, a suave young Japanese 
met us at the station in Seoul, announcing that he was 
the personal representative of the Governor-General. 
He had heard that some distinguished American ladies 
were coming, and he would be most happy to put him- 
self at their disposal. Were they to stay long in the city ? 
Perhaps they would like him to make out a schedule, 
so that they would be sure of seeing the most interesting 
points. At least, being educators, they would enjoy a 

*New York Times, July 13, 1919. 



"SPEAKIKG OFFICIALLY" 249 

visit to the Government schools. He would be most 
pleased to take them. And he also was commissioned 
to announce that the Governor-General and his wife 
looked forward to the pleasure of entertaining the ladies 
at luncheon. 

" Propaganda is Japan's middle name," remarked an 
American resident of Seoul, after the young Japanese 
had withdrawn with many bows and smiles.^ 

Fortunately for Miss McCormick, she was fore- 
warned by her friends who know the method of Japa- 
nese before she went to Korea. "If you permit the 
Japanese to take you in tow at Seoul, you will see 
only what they want you to see. Insist on studying 
conditions for yourself." Consequently, she knew 
what she would encounter. But the majority of un- 
suspecting visitors fall into the official trap of the 
Japanese Government propaganda. 

This falsified publicity on the other side of the ocean 
could not have been such a success had it not secured 
the cooperation of pro-Japanese propaganda in Amer- 
ica. Japan Is a nation that knows the publicity game, 
and plays it with consummate skill. During the Peace 
Conference she spent $10,000,000 in various European 
countries for propaganda work. At present she spends 
several million dollars every year in America for the 
purpose of " conquest of American opinion." ^ " Japa- 
nese propaganda is being carried on in this country as 
determinedly as was the German propaganda before 

^Christian 'Herald (New York), April 17, 1920, p. 469. 

^ For a full description of Japanese propaganda methods in 
America, consult Montaville Flowers, Japanese Conquest of 
American Opinion (New York, 1916). 



250 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

we entered the war," says V. S. McClatchy, the editor 
of the Sacramento Bee. 

There are the various Japan-American Societies, or- 
ganized ostensibly to promote friendly relations, but 
used generally to secure the active but innocent assist- 
ance of prominent Americans in propaganda work; the 
commercial and trade organizations used in the same 
way; the entertainment in Japan of prominent Ameri- 
cans, who come back with a dazzling picture of one side 
of the shield, and who, apparently, do not know that the 
shield has a reverse side; men in public speeches and 
interviews make assertions which any one familiar with 
Far Eastern conditions knows are entirely wrong; ban- 
quets and speeches where most publicity can be secured ; 
special annual Japanese numbers of American news- 
papers ; public lectures and interviews with hired propa- 
gandists, both Japanese and American; Japanese news 
bureaus and magazines.* 

Such men as K. K. Kawakami, the Japanese pub- 
licist, who is at the head of the " Pacific Press Bureau," 
at San Francisco, and Dr. T. lyenaga, the Director of 
" East and West News Bureau," of New York, are 
nationally known, and they wield an influence at the 
fountain heads of publicity in America. Besides the 
regular paid propagandists, both Japanese and Ameri- 
can, there are a number of people who are sincerely 
won over by the finer sides of the Japanese character. 
And then there is the group whose services are en- 
listed by subtle means of delicate flattery and social 
ambition. The members of the Japan Society of New 

^Frorti the Sacramento Bee, June g, 1919; also cf. pamphlet, 
The Germany of Asia, part II, article 1, by McClatchy. 



' ' SPEAKING OFFICIALLY " 261 

York are mostly from the latter two groups. The So- 
ciety, at present, boasts a membership of nearly two 
thousand prominent business and professional men 
and women in the country, and its annual dinners at 
the Astor Hotel in New York are the occasions when 
the " sincere friendship " between America and Japan 
and the "altruism" of Japan towards other Asiatic 
countries are given in wine-warmed sentiments of 
after dinner speeches. 

When the Mansei demonstrations commenced in 
March, 1919, a publicist for Japan lost no time in de- 
nouncing the work of the Korean patriots. It was the 
work of " scoundrels and rascals," said he, " and the 
Korean people themselves had become weary of agita- 
tion and angry at the obstacles placed in the way of 
the education of their children; many of them even 
welcomed the arrest by the Government of those of 
their fellow-countrymen who were charged with co- 
ercing boys and girls to absent themselves from 
school." He charged the missionaries with " gross 
exaggerations," for the reports sent to this country 
and exonerated the Japanese soldiers for their atroci- 
ties. Says this publicist : " when unscrupulous scoun- 
drels . . . collect at a certain spot and mansei 
a few times, they will receive thirty sen each for their 
pains, and then are led on to assault the police station, 
or stone the workmen at their work, some one is sure 
to get hurt even by soldiers much less excitable and 
much more humane than are the Japanese soldiery." * 

Explanations would be unnecessary. Life is cheap 
*New York Times, May ii, 1919. 



252 THE CASE OF KOBEA 

in Korea — ^very cheap, indeed, from the Japanese point 
of view. But not so cheap as to induce Koreans to 
cheer for their country for thirty sen (fifteen cents) 
and get shot or sabred. It is gratifying, indeed, to 
know that there are plenty of publicists and scholars 
in America who will not stoop to venality or allow 
prejudice to garble truth. The various methods em- 
ployed by the Japanese Government in an attempt to 
distort facts concerning the Korean Independence 
Movement would fill a volume. Therefore, only an 
epitome of the successive steps taken by the Japanese 
Government can be given in the remainder of this 
chapter. 

As has been pointed out in previous chapters, the 
Korean Independence Movement was national in its 
scope, involving the entire population. It was, in re- 
ality, the greatest popular movement in the recent his- 
tory of Korea. Yet the Japanese, through their abso- 
lute control of cable and telegraph systems, kept the 
outside world in total darkness at first. Even the 
Japanese vernacular press in Korea, in cooperation 
with the Government, did not print anything concern- 
ing the disturbance. When the newspapers in Peking 
and Shanghai began to print letters from foreign resi- 
dents in Korea, received through underground chan- 
nels, on what was happening in the peninsula, the 
Seoul Press promptly denied the reports of serious 
disturbances and printed a short item that there was 
a little riot in a country district in northern Korea 
which was quickly suppressed by the police. Mean- 
while, some of the missionaries in Korea made special 



" SPEAKING OFFICIALLY " 253 

trips to China to mail their letters home in order to 
avoid the Japanese censor. No sooner were Japanese 
atrocities revealed through publication of these private 
letters in the American press than the Foreign Office at 
Tokyo denied all the charges of atrocities committed by; 
the Japanese soldiers and police in Korea. The Japa- 
nese Embassy at Washington gave official dispatches to 
the press of the country to the effect that " only one 
person was killed and six wounded in Seoul from the 
start of the disturbance until very recently." The 
official dispatch proceeds: 

Perfect care is being taken by the authorities, aided by 
the Red Cross, of all the wounded, who have been taken 
to charity and official hospitals in the provinces. The 
charge that churches, schools and houses of riotous 
meetings were destroyed by the authorities is entirely 
unfounded, and in no case have the leaders of the dis- 
turbance been put to torture." 

This official statement, made by the Japanese Em- 
bassy in Washington, was based on official communi- 
cations received from the Japanese Government at 
Tokyo, headed by the civil, not military, Prime Min- 
ister Hara and his able assistant. Baron Uchida, Min- 
ister of Foreign Affairs. It was given to the press on 
April 24:, 1919, while the reign of terror was going on 
full blast in Korea. Only nine days prior to the is- 
suance of this official dispatch, April 15, the Chai- 
amm-ni massacre took place, which the Governor- 
General was compelled to acknowledge on account of 

*New York Times, April 25, 1919. 



254 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

the investigations made by the British Consul-General, 
Mr. Royds, and the American Consul, Mr. Curtice. 
Wounded men were removed from the Severance Hos- 
pital to be the victims of further tortures, despite the 
protest of the physicians. This was done on April 
10, only two weeks prior to the official dispatch that 
" perfect care is being taken by authorities of all the 
wounded." 

Not only the Japanese Embassy at Washington, but 
all the Japanese Consulates throughout the United 
States issued official statements denying the charges 
of cruelty on the part of Japanese soldiers in connec- 
tion with the Independence Movement in Korea. 
However, these denials did not get much hearing, 
since the evidence confirming the atrocities was too 
strong. Then the official Tokyo issued another state- 
ment to the effect that a certain amount of repression 
was necessary in crushing the Korean movement, as 
it was inspired and directed by the Russian Bolsheviki. 
Again the official statement was given very little cre- 
dence in the American press. Says the New York 
Sun editorially: 

The Japanese have made a display of frankness as 
to their repressive measures. This falls in with their 
laying the disturbances to Bolsheviki propaganda. The 
trouble, even from here, may be seen really to partake 
more of nationalism than of class war. This being the 
case, the Japanese avowals of troops sent, of wholesale 
arrests, of stories permitted to come to us of wounded 
fugitives taken from American Missionary hospitals, of 
American missionaries arrested on suspicion of aiding 
the rebels — all put Japan in a dubious light, for they 



" SPEAKING OFFICIALLY " 265 

proclaim tHe failure of her labours to domesticate the 
national spirit of the conquered land. 

When no other excuse was available for their bru- 
talities in Korea, the Japanese Government forthwith 
announced the " Reforms " that they were about to 
initiate in Korea. They thus shifted the basis of their 
tactics in their publicity propaganda in the West, 
adopting a new program far more subtle than mere 
denials, and consequently, more susceptible to the un- 
suspecting. They now admit wrongs have been done 
to the Koreans, but say it was all the fault of their 
militarists over whom the civilian Premier had no 
control, and of whose deeds the Tokyo Government 
was ignorant. 

This is the most subtly deceiving argument that the 
Japanese Government has yet invented. This places 
Japan in a naive attitude of repentance and tends to 
deceive even those who know the record of Japan in 
Korea. But close investigation cannot but reveal that 
the so-called civil party and military party in Japan 
are one in advancing the cause of Greater Japan. The 
terms " military party " and " militarists " are used by 
Japanese officials and spokesmen for Japan as scape- 
goats when direct acts of injustice and aggression, 
which they cannot deny, are brought to their attention. 
It is beyond question that all the Japanese atrocities in 
Korea have been committed by the order of the Japa- 
nese Government in Tokyo, and not by military offi- 
cials on their own initiative, as the events prove. 

In March, 1919, Mr. T. Yamagata, the Director- 



256 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

General of Administration, was called to Tokyo for a 
conference with the Government. Much was hoped 
that the " Liberal " Premier of Japan, T. Hara, the 
head of the Civil Party, would declare himself against 
the cruelties that had been employed. On the con- 
trary, it was decided by Hara and his " Liberal " as- 
sociates to employ harsher measures. Six thousand 
soldiers and 400 gendarmes were promptly dispatched 
to Korea to carry on the work of human butchery. 
And by far the worst atrocities and massacres were 
committed by these newcomers. When incidents of 
massacres were brought directly to his attention by 
foreign eye-witnesses, the " Liberal " Premier shed 
crocodile tears. 

The underlings in Korea, who were carrying out the 
orders of this " Liberal " Premier, also adopted two- 
faced methods in their reign of terror. Thus General 
Utsonomiya, commander of the military forces of 
Japan, in Korea, while secretly instructing his officers 
and men to burn and kill, issued the following public 
instruction to his soldiers as to their attitude towards 
the revolutionists: 

Warm sympathy should be shown to the erring 
Koreans, who, in spite of their offense, should be treated 
as unfortunate fellow-countrymen, needing love and guid- 
ance. 

Use of weapons should be abstained from till the last 
moment of absolute necessity. Where, for instance, the 
demonstration is confined merely to processions and the 
shouting of Mansei and no violence is done, efforts should 
be confined to the dispersal of crowds by peaceful per- 
suasion. 



" SPEAKING OFFICIALLY »' 267 

Even in case force is employed as the last resource, 
endeavour should be made to limit its use to the mini- 
mum extent. 

The moment the necessity therefor ceases, the use of 
force should at once be stopped. . . . 

Special care should be taken not to harm anybody not 
participating in disturbances, especially aged people, chil- 
dren and women. With regard to the missionaries and 
other foreigners, except in case of the plainest evidence, 
as, for instance, where they are caught in the act, all 
forbearance and circumspection should be used. 

You are expected to see to it that the officers and men 
under you (especially those detailed in small parties) 
will lead a clean and decent life and be modest and po- 
lite, without abating their loyalty and courage, thus ex- 
emplifying in their conduct the noble traditions of our 
historic Bushido.^ . . . 

These public instructions were issued on March 12, 
and the worst burnings and massacres occurred during- 
the latter part of March and April following, which 
is conclusive evidence that this was issued for effect 
and not to be carried out. High sounding proclama- 
tions and instructions, such as this, were printed in 
the Seoul Press and were circulated by Japanese prop- 
agandists in America and Europe as proof of the 
falsity of the charges of atrocities. 

The latest developments in " Speaking Officially " 
on the " Benevolent Assimilation " of the Koreans was 
in connection with the visit of the Congressional Party 
to the Far East in July and August, 1920. 

* Quoted by Bishop Herbert Welch, " The Korean Independence 
Movement o£ 1919," The Christian Advocate (New York), July 
31, 1919, p. 971. 



258 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Korea was included in the itinerary of the party. 
American Solons must be kept out of Korea, if at all 
possible. It would not do for the good name and fame 
of Japan to give American Congressmen a chance to 
study the conditions at first hand. Weeks before the 
party reached Korea, the Japanese Government news 
agencies became busy sending out broadcast the ru- 
mour that Asiatic cholera was raging in Korea. It 
would be the height of folly for Americans to visit 
that plague-infested country. However, this did not 
seem to bother the Americans touring the Orient. 
Then suddenly there was a plot on the part of the 
Koreans to bomb the Congressional Party. This also 
did not seem to bother the stalwart Americans. When 
it was- definitely known that the Congressional Party 
would visit Korea despite the cholera and the threat 
of the Koreans to bomb the party, the Japanese Min- 
ister at Peking assured the party that the danger was 
" real." But since the party had decided to visit 
Korea, the authorities would use every precaution to 
insure their safety. He emphasized the point that it 
was absolutely essential for the members of the party 
to obey the police instructions while In Korea so as to 
avoid the bomb throwers. 

On the day the party was to arrive (August 24), 
" the streets in the vicinity of the station and up to the 
main post-office were virtually cleared of Koreans," 
writes an American eye-witness in the Japan Adver- 
tiser, " and even Americans and other foreigners, com- 
ing from the center of the city to welcome the guests, 
were turned back by the sabre of the police, and some 



*' SPEAKING OFFICIALLY" 259 

made their way to the station by back alleys. Japa- 
nese civiHans, however, were free to promenade as 
they pleased. When the guests at length arrived, they 
were driven to the Chosen Hotel, through streets al- 
most bare of the people and lined by the large force of 
police already referred to. Had the Koreans been per- 
mitted to witness the arrival of the party, its progress 
to the hotel would, undoubtedly, have been one con- 
tinued ovation." * 

The Pacific Commercial Advertiser at Honolulu, 
which knows something of the traits of Japanese di- 
plomacy and propaganda through its long contact with 
the Japanese, commented editorially when neither 
cholera nor bomb throwing was discovered except the 
rumour and the signs manufactured by the Japanese 
Government in Korea: 

An Absurd Plot 

If Japan's militarists were not sadly lacking in a sense 
of humour, they could not avoid seeing the absurdity 
of the efforts they are making to keep the American 
congressmen, and the world at large, from learning the 
truth about Korea and their mis-government of that sor- 
rowful country. 

Days before the congressional party started north to 
pay a brief visit to Korea, frantic efforts were made by 
the Japanese Government officials to keep them out of 
that country. It would hardly do, of course, to flatly 
refuse permission for the congressmen to visit Korea, so 
they were told that a horrible plot had been concocted 
by the wicked Koreans to kidnap them, perhaps even 

* Quoted in the Literary Digest, November 13, 1920. 



260 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

blow them up with bombs, so as to embroil the United 
States and Japan. 

When the Japanese discovered that American con- 
gressmen were not to be frightened by such ridiculous 
yarns and were still determined on visiting Seoul, they 
played another card. They figured that if they couldn't 
keep the congressmen out of Korea, they could, at least, 
keep the Koreans away from the congressmen. 

So the Japanese army authorities in Korea announced 
that in order to safeguard the Americans they would be 
guarded by the entire Japanese army in Korea. And 
they were, too. 

In other words, a military cordon was thrown around 
them, so that Koreans who wished to approach them and 
tell them the truth about conditions in Chosen might be 
headed off. Small chance any Korean would have to 
present facts to the Americans ! Small chance the latter 
have of making any real investigation! They are, po- 
litely, of course, prevented from getting away from their 
Japanese guards. 

But unless we miss our guess badly, the action of the 
Japanese officials will react unfavourably upon their 
Government. There are few American congressmen, 
we hope, who would be taken in by any scheme as raw 
as the one mentioned. And attempts to deceive them are 
not liable to enhance the position of Japan in their eyes.* 

The Pacific Commercial Advertiser had not missed 
much in its guess. Amidst all the lavish entertain- 
ment and effusive hospitality of the Japanese Govern- 
ment, there was at least one Congressman in the party 
who saw for himself the conditions of the country, 
untrammelled by the deference of officials who pointed 

^Pacific Commercial Advertiser (Honolulu, T. H.), August 
26, 1920. 



" SPEAKING OFFICIALLY " 261 

to only the bright spots. He was Hugh S. Hersman 
of CaHfornia, who is well known in his state for his 
independence of judgment. Mr. Hersman politely- 
refused to be guided around by Japanese officials and 
went about unescorted by the police, braving the 
danger of being blown up by Korean bomb-throw- 
ers — the peril which was so " imminent " and " real." 
He accepted the invitation to address the Korean 
Y. M. C. A. at Seoul. The hall was crowded and the 
American Congressman was given a rousing cheer. 
In his address he made the significant statement that 
he was " glad to see something of the Koreans before 
leaving the country." After his address soldiers and 
police rushed into the hall requesting Congressman 
Hersman to leave, and began to arrest the Koreans. 
Mr. Hersman refused to leave insisting that if any one 
should be taken he was the one and not the Koreans. 
This firm stand taken by the Congressman made the 
Japanese police release all the arrested Koreans. 

This incident so disgusted Mr. Hersman that he 
withdrew from the party which was accepting the hos- 
pitality of the Japanese Government, and went around 
unofficially during the rest of the journey through the 
Orient. 

In a carefully prepared statement given to the press 
after his landing at San Francisco on October 2, Mr. 
Hersman said: 

Any reference to political matters was, of course, care- 
fully avoided. For five or six minutes I addressed the 
most eager, intense and expectant audience that it will 
ever be my good fortune to face. My words were in- 



262 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

terpreted by Mr. Yun Chi Ho. A short reply was made 
by the venerable Korean, Yi Sang-jai, who had spent 
three years in jail for preferring to be ruled over by a 
Korean rather than by a Japanese. 

******** 

The Koreans, evidently expecting to go out, followed 
us into the lobby. They were grabbed by the officers 
and brutally kicked and manhandled. Both Mr. Gregg 
and myself vigorously protested at such treatment. I 
was informed by the officer in charge that the Koreans 
had all been arrested and that I was expected to go. I 
told them that if any one should be taken I was the one 
and not the Koreans. They were very insistent, and I 
finally said I would not go until they released all the 
Koreans. After an hour had been spent in consultation 
and in sending messages, the Koreans were finally re- 
leased. 

Our Consul arrived on the scene about this time, hav- 
ing heard from several foreigners who left the building 
that I was in grave danger of being arrested, A number 
of statements have appeared in Japanese papers stating 
that the police action was justified, because of the crowds 
that had filled the streets and the disorder in the hall. 
This statement is, of course, untrue. I never saw a more 
orderly crowd. 

I have talked with many foreign residents from China, 
Korea and Japan, with officers of the de facto Govern- 
ment and the Koreans themselves. I am of the opinion 
that the policy of the Imperial Japanese Government has 
been of such a nature that the Korean people will never 
peaceably submit to it.* 

From the time the Congressional Party left Peking 
until they arrived in Japan, the semi-official news 

^ San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, October 
3, 1920. 



"SPEAKING OFFICIALLY" 263 

agencies at Tokyo kept the wires busy with the hor- 
rible reports of the Korean " plots " to kill every one 
of the party. The Japanese authorities " learned the 
news that some Koreans broke six rails of the South 
Manchurian Railway to derail the special train and 
harm the American statesmen and party." 

It was somewhat ungrateful to the Japanese Gov- 
ernment, in view of all the ultra-precautions taken by 
them to protect the Congressional Party from Korean 
" anarchists," that not a single Senator or Congress- 
man of- the party, after his return to America, ever 
mentioned the horrible train-wrecking, bomb-throwing 
plots or even the hostile attitude of the Koreans to the 
American party. On the contrary, every one of the 
Congressional Party spoke of the Koreans as looking 
towards America for moral support and sympathy in 
their struggle for liberty. 

The Hon. Henry Z. Osborne of California, who 
was a member of the Party touring the Orient, in a 
speech delivered in the House of Representatives on 
December 23, 1920, described the Japanese official re- 
ports of Korean " plots " so inconsequent that " we 
never even had a meeting on the subject. In fact, we 
knew that, like the Chinese, they [Koreans] regard 
the United States as their only possible hope. . . . 
The Japanese authorities . . . took a good deal 
of pains to make sure that we should see as few 
Koreans as possible. None were permitted to come 
near the railway stations, and soldiers were in evi- 
dence on every hand." In relating his impressions of 
the Korean people, Mr. Osborne said: 



264 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

They have the appearance of excellent people, and 
those that we met were generally bright, intellectually; 
but in Korea, for the reasons that I have stated, we did 
not meet many. We travelled all day — Tuesday, August 
24 — through this beautiful country, for which nature 
has done so much, stopping frequently at well-built sta- 
tions, at which uniformed soldiers or police were in at- 
tendance, with the constant spectacle of crowds of 
Korean people — men, women, and children — standing off 
at a distance and looking wistfully at the train. While 
they occasionally shouted and cheered, more generally 
they stood in silence, and we could only guess what may 
have been in their thoughts. But it seemed to me a silent 
and impressive protest to the foreign occupation of their 
country, more expressive than words. I doubt if our 
party would have been so deeply impressed if the Koreans 
had been permitted to throng the stations and besiege 
us with verbal and written petitions and protests.* 

The Hon. Stephen G. Porter of Pennsylvania, 
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, 
in a public address, said: 

The Filipinos, Chinese and Koreans fairly idolize 
Americans, while the Japanese, at the best, have a cordial 
dislike for this country. . . . The worship of Ameri- 
cans by the Chinese and Koreans has reached such a 
stage where natives of those countries virtually put us 
on a pedestal beside Buddha. 

At the same time Mr. Porter and others noted a 
different feeling in Japan. Continuing he said: 

We were cordially received in Japan, but there is an 

* " China, Korea and Japan as seen with the Congressional 
Party of 1920," Congressional Record, Vol, 60, No. 17, pp. 781- 
802, December 27, 1920. 



" SPEAKING OFFICIALLY " 265 

undercurrent of feeling against this country there. This 
is evident to any American visiting the Japanese Islands. 
Many newspapers and public men in Japan even now are 
talking of war with the United States, seeing in this coun- 
try their greatest enemy in their present-day efforts at 
domination/ . . . 

In April, 1919, while the Japanese reign of terror 
was going on in Korea, I had a long interview with 
the president of one of the largest news agencies in 
America with the hope of convincing him of the ad- 
visability of sending a special correspondent to Korea 
to report the conditions. After listening to my story, 
he said: 

I would gladly send a man capable of handling the 
situation if such a man were available. But at present 
all my best men are at Paris reporting on the Peace Con- 
ference. If a correspondent were to be sent to Korea, 
he must be a man internationally known, whose integrity 
and ability no one would question. Otherwise, the cor- 
respondent may be an eye-witness to what he writes, yet 
the Japanese will have their Premier make out an af&davit 
to the contrary. 

It is, indeed, gratifying to know that a few of the 
publicists in the West are beginning to realize the 
dubious methods of diplomacy and publicity propa- 
ganda of Japan. Even Japan, past master as she is in 
the art of deception, cannot " fool all the people all the 
time." 

* Philadelphia Public Ledger, October 14, 1920. 



XVI 
JAPAN'S ALLEGED REFORMS 

PUBLICITY is a friend of the oppressed and a 
powerful enemy of tyranny. Present-day de- 
mocracies cannot maintain their sane balance 
without its aid. It came to the assistance of Korea 
in her fight for freedom. Had it not been for pub- 
licity, Marshal Hasegawa, despite all his crimes, would 
still be the supreme ruler of Korea to-day. It was 
publicity that compelled Japan to acknowledge, at least, 
the abuses of her rule in Korea and make even the 
nominal changes that she did. 

When the report of the massacres in Korea began 
to come to America and Europe, Japan was placed in 
an embarrassing position. It was at the time when the 
Japanese delegates at the Peace Conference were 
championing the principle of racial equality, and Japan 
was assuming the role of the chivalrous knight de- 
fending the rights of the weak and the oppressed. 
Some way must be found to prevent giving publicity 
to reports that had escaped the blockade of the Japa- 
nese censor — at least, the West must not know about 
the atrocities until the Peace Conference was over, 
when Japan would have obtained what she wanted. 
She made desperate attempts to suppress the news of 
atrocities, but her efforts were futile. 

The Headquarters of the Presbyterian Church at 
266 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED EEFOEMS 267 

New York issued a stinging report on the Korean 
situation. The various reHgious organizations in CaH- 
fornia voiced their " most solemn protest against the 
methods of administration, so abhorrent to all sense 
of justice, so subversive of the very ends for which 
America and her Allies waged the great world war." 
The San Francisco Presbytery went so far as to say in 
its resolution of protest, " We earnestly urge our 
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions to imme- 
diately use all its influence with the Government at 
Washington to bring these atrocities to a speedy end." 
The religious journals in the country were equally 
vehement in denouncing the reign of terror carried on 
by the Japanese Government in Korea. Says the 
Christian Advocate (New York), "America cannot 
and should not be silent when brutality, torture, in- 
human treatment, religious persecution and massacre 
are practised upon an extensive scale by any nation. 
It is to the disgrace of Christendom that the Turk was 
so long allowed to terrorize the Bulgars and the Ar- 
menians. It is to the honour of Christendom that it 
took arms against the Teuton when he began his reign 
of terror over the Belgians. It is the duty of human- 
ity to hold the Japanese Government to account for the 
horrible deeds which have been perpetrated upon the 
unresisting Koreans." The Philadelphia Presbyterian 
pointedly states, ** The groans of these innocent people 
have ascended to Heaven, and it is time that Christian 
nations entered their protest, and the mission boards, 
who either condone this violence or fail to protest 
against it, are already condemned." The Christian 



268 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Herald (New York) goes further than any of its cbn- 
temporaries and advocates Korean freedom. It says: 
" Though still but a child in the Gospel, Korea has 
suddenly become a spiritual example to all the Oriental 
races through her splendid fidelity to the faith. 
Christians everywhere will hope and pray that she 
may attain full freedom, and that some practical way 
may open in the near future to that accomplishment." 

Publications other than religious were no less severe 
in denouncing the Japanese atrocities. The Literary 
Digest of May 31, 1919, published a scathing letter 
written by a British resident of Korea. The New 
York Herald of June 16, 1919, published a' series of 
eye-witness statements made by American residents in 
Korea on the situation, under the caption of " Chris- 
tians Persecuted in Korea with Hun Ferocity." 

Blank denials were no longer possible. In order to 
preserve her good name in the West, it was necessary 
for Japan to admit her wrongs and promise to do 
better. This was brought about by announcing "^re- 
forms " in Korea. An Imperial Rescript was issued 
in Tokyo on August 19 and was given to the Ameri- 
can press by the Japanese Embassy at Washington on 
August 20. It promised " to promote the security and 
welfare of our territory of Korea and to extend to the 
native population of that territory, as our beloved sub- 
jects, fair and impartial treatment, in all respects to 
the end that they may, without distinction of persons, 
lead their lives in peace and contentment." 

The rescript, coupled with a statement of Premier 
Hara, broadly hinted at promise of local self-govern- 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED REFOEMS 269 

ment for Korea and reforms looking towards home 
rule. The military Government should be succeeded 
by a civil one; the military gendarmerie was to be re- 
placed by a civilian police force under civilian control ; 
a system of village and town municipal Government, 
based on popular suffrage, was to be undertaken ; and 
the Koreans should have the same privileges and legal 
rights as the Japanese, who, heretofore, had been a 
privileged class. 

The new administration came into office on Septem- 
ber 1, with Admiral Saito, former minister of the navy, 
succeeding General Hasegawa, as the Governor-Gen- 
eral, and Midzuno taking the place of Director-General 
Yamagata of Administration. 

Disinterested friends of Korea and Japan hoped 
that many liberal reform measures would be introduced 
and carried into effect by the new administration. In 
the light of the Imperial policy of Japan, autonomy 
for Korea, far less independence, could not be ex- 
pected, unless it were forced out of Japan. But in 
view of all these promises given in official statements 
and the Imperial Rescript, it was reasonable for fair- 
minded Westerners to expect the Japanese to give to 
the Koreans the primary political and civil rights, such 
as allowing the study of Korean language in schools ; 
granting the right of petition, of assemblage, of free 
speech, of free press ; giving equality before the courts ; 
enforcing social justice; granting political amnesty; 
and abolishing all forms of torture in the examination 
of prisoners. 

These expectations, reasonable aS they are, were met 



270 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

only with disappointment. The only reforms that have 
been introduced are the changing of the name of the 
" military " administration to that of the " civil," and 
the " gendarmerie " to " police." Six thousand sol- 
diers and four hundred gendarmes, sent to Korea in 
April, 1919, to carry on the reign of terror — at the 
very time when Foreign Minister Uchida and Premier 
Hara were sending cable messages to America assur- 
ing the American public that they were " most deeply 
concerned in regard to the introduction of reforms into 
the Governmental administration of Chosen " — still 
remain in Korea to do their patriotic duty of killing 
Koreans. In addition to this, according to a report 
sent from Seoul on January 13, 1930, the administra- 
tion has increased the police force by adding 196 offi- 
cers and 3,055 policemen to be distributed in fourteen 
places, including Seoul, Songdo and Fusan. 

As yet, there is no security of life or property in 
Korea, and martial law is enforced as rigidly as ever. 
I cite the following translation of two official orders, 
issued by the Saito Administration on September 29 
and October 3, 1919, after the " reforms " were in- 
troduced in Korea: 

Eight Year of Taisho, September 29. 

Directions Issued as Special Instructions to the Local 
Police Chiefs: 

It is rumoured that, taking advantage of the autumn 
holidays — the 14th and 15th of this month, according to 
the old calendar — ^public disturbances will reoccur. For 
this offense no mercy will be shown to any one ; but such 
offenders will be shot on the spot. As a preparation 
against such happening during these two days the public 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED REFOEMS 271 

should take note of this warning. There should be or- 
ganized at once units composed of each five families, with 
a supervisor at the head of each unit. These units should 
have in charge the prevention of all drinking, and there 
should be no country music permitted as was formerly 
the custom. All these matters are entrusted to the chiefs 
of the local police. 

Eight Year of Taisho, October 3. 

Direction and Warning Concerning Prevention of Dis- 
order: When the authorities carefully inspected reports 
concerning the formation of the five family units, above 
shown, according to the directions issued a few days 
ago for the special consideration of the local police 
chiefs, it has been found that no reports have been re- 
ceived from outside of Kem Sung Ni. The people there 
must be drunk or dreaming, at a moment so dangerous 
as this. The authorities realize the necessity of check- 
ing the disturbing elements and protecting the loyal citi- 
zens. For these reasons, we hereby issue another mes- 
sage in order to warn the public. There should be neither 
music, " moon gazing," wrestling, nor sham battles ; nor 
should there be any drinking parties either on mountain 
or plain, lest some who entertain " secret thoughts " may 
shout Mansei by the hundreds in response to one cry 
at the height of mental disorder under the influence of 
intoxication, and lest some other improper behaviour may 
occur. In cases as described above, shooting will be em- 
ployed as the chief means of prevention according to the 
" Public Safety Ordinance " just revised by the authori- 
ties. 

Formerly the soldiers and gendarmes shot people 
who shouted for Independence for Korea, tinder the 
oral instruction of the authorities, but now they have 
written orders, which is an improvement. 



272 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

The judicial system, under the new Administration, 
seems to have gone through the same kind of improve- 
ment. It is remarkable for its simplicity. At the trial 
of political prisoners arrested since March 1, 1919, all 
legal procedure was suspended. The only question 
that was put to the prisoner was, " Will you do it 
(shouting independence for Korea) again?" If the 
prisoner answered in the negative, he was released. 
If he said he would, he was put back into prison and 
tortured until his spirit was completely crushed. A 
girl student from Yern Dong Academy (American 
Presbyterian College for Girls), Seoul, said to the 
judge, " I would do it again the first chance I got." 
She was promptly dragged back into the prison cell. 

The barbarous method of prison tortures and flog- 
ging still exist under the " reformed " system. On 
October 30, a day before the Japanese Emperor's birth- 
day, a prisoner was released without trial. The police 
pulled out four of his toe nails within two weeks of 
his release as a gentle warning that he must not enter- 
tain " dangerous thoughts." A girl prisoner was re- 
leased without trial after seven months of imprison- 
ment, during which she underwent four periods of 
torture. Once she was tortured for six successive 
hours. Twisting her legs until the excruciating pain 
made her insensible, searing her tender parts with a 
red-hot Iron, stripping and kicking were some of the 
tortures that were administered to her by the " polite " 
Japanese police — all with the knowledge and sanction 
of the " reformed " Government. 

As late as October, 1920, over a year since the in- 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED EEFOEMS 273 

troduction of " reforms " in Korea, a missionary 
wrote : 

Lately a number of Koreans were arrested and treated 
with the same old methods. How do I know ? The for- 
eign physician was called to the police station to revive 
our young Korean doctor who was nearly killed by the 
torture. The worst of it was that the man was found 
innocent and released after this " examination." 

Recently, a pastor, four elders and some other church 
officers, were on their way to an Officers' Class. At the 
church, where they were stopping over Sunday, one of 
the elders, in preaching, spoke of. the Korean nation as 
a " suffering people." The next day the whole congrega- 
tion were arrested, taken to the country jail, kept there 
three days and then each one flogged to impress it upon 
them they were not a suffering people. The church at 
which I now am is close to the police station. The police 
came and ordered the Qiristians not to ring the bell nor 
sing because it disturbed them. The Christians report 
that all the prisoners are badly beaten in their preliminary 
examinations, and that one man, a non-Christian, from 
Manchuria, was beaten to death recently.* 

Referring to the above letter published in the Japan 
Advertiser, the Seoul Press said editorially: 

We venture to say that he is but a morbid antagonist 
of the Japanese Regime in Chosen; that he is forcibly 
prejudiced against anything Japanese, whether good or 
bad, and unfortunately, like a few others, he belongs to 
a gang of foreign agitators of the anti- Japanese move- 
ment in Korea.* 

*A letter published in the Japan 'Advertiser, October 14, 1920. 
* Editorial, "Missionary Meddling in Politics," Seoul Press, 
October 20, 1920. 



274 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

Evidently, the " reforms " have not touched the 
" official conscience " of Mr. Yamagata, the editor of 
the Press; thus he still speaks " officially." 

Freedom of speech and of the press has been prom- 
ised by the Japanese Government under the " re- 
formed" administration. But, thus far, it is merely 
an empty promise, made for the purpose of giving it 
out to the Western press. Whatever freedom was 
given to the Koreans was given with one hand and 
taken away with the other. The Great Korean Na- 
tional Association, organized by the Christians in 
northern Korea, with its headquarters at Pyeng Yang, 
under the promise of " freedom of speech " of the Civil 
Administration, was dissolved by the authorities on the 
ground of its " anti-Japanese attitude," and most of 
its members were arrested.* 

In the spring of 1920, Tokyo announced with con- 
siderable flourish that three Korean newspapers would 
be permitted to issue. It was announced that one 
would even be edited by a leading Korean nationalist. 
The three papers actually made their appearance. But 
of the three, two are edited by Korean hirelings of the 
Japanese Government, and their columns contain un- 
disguised Japanese propaganda intended to break down 
the morale of the Korean advocates of independence. 
The third, the Korean Daily News, was edited by a 
Korean nationalist. But while the other two have 
been unmolested by the authorities, the Korean Daily 
News has been suppressed more than twenty-three 
times during six months, all the issues being confis- 
* St. Louis Globe Democrat, November 7, 1920. 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED EEFOEMS 275 

cated. Finally, the paper was closed down in Septem- 
ber, 1920, and its editor is in prison at the present time/ 

Even religious weeklies, published by missionaries, 
suffer the same persecution under the Civil Adminis- 
tration of Admiral Saito as they did under the Military 
Administration of General Hasegawa. Thus, the 
Christian Messenger, published by the Christian Lit- 
erature Society of Korea, which had been permitted by 
General Hasegawa, was confiscated on September 3, 
and its issues were destroyed by the police. Gerald 
Bonwick, its publisher, in a letter addressed to the 
editor of the Seoul Press, September 14, 1930, says: 
" We have no desire to offend purposely, we have no 
political axe to grind ; our purpose is to give news and 
information together with comment in a fair and 
straightforward manner, and if by accident something 
creeps In that is not quite pleasing to the powers that 
be, it would be better policy to ignore it, rather than to 
confiscate the edition." 

Maltreatment of women has not been abolished. 
One hundred and six women were "rounded up" 
during the first part of November, 1920, for no other 
crime than that they were members of the Korean 
Women's Patriotic League." Needless to say that 
they were put through the usual Japanese tortures in 
prisons. 

Massacres still continue. On October 30, 1920, 
Japanese infantry surrounded the town of Lungpin- 
Tsun near Chang Yen district, and shot twenty Kor 

* New York Tribune, October 24, 1920. 
' Los Angeles Times, November 7, 1920. 



276 THE CASE OF KOEBA 

reans who were suspected of being " rebels." Then 
the soldiers put to torch the Christian mission and the 
schoolhouse of the town/ 

Korean communities in Manchuria are singled out 
for destruction. Dr. S. H. Martin, a Canadian Pres- 
byterian missionary at Yong Jung, South Manchuria, 
sent a signed statement to the Associated Press, in 
which he described the Japanese infantry as burning 
villages, setting fire to the crops and massacring the 
inhabitants. He named thirty-two villages in which 
massacres occurred. In one village 148 persons were 
killed. Says Dr. Martin: "The Japanese sent 15,000 
troops into this part of China, with the seeming inten- 
tion of wiping out the entire Christian community, 
especially young men. Villages were methodically 
burned daily, and the inhabitants in them shot. Yong 
Jung is surrounded by a ring of villages, which suf- 
fered from fire and wholesale murder." ^ 

The Rev. W. R. Foote and a number of prominent 
Canadian missionaries made representations to the 
Japanese Consul at Mukden in regard to the Japanese 
soldiers " butchering innocent Koreans, including 
many Christians, without trial." ' 

Colonel Mizumachi, the head of the Japanese Mili- 
tary Commission in Manchuria, made a sensational 
reply. In which he charged the missionaries as inter- 
fering with the political affairs of the Japanese Em- 
pire, and denied that any Korean was executed without 

. * Associated Press cable from Tokyo, November g, 1920. 
^ Washington Post, November 30, 1920. 
' Des Moines Register, November 27, 1920. 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED EEFOEMS 277 

inquiry or trial. He poignantly concludes: ** The suc- 
cess or failure of your propaganda, in and out of 
Korea, depends solely on your willingness to cooperate 
with the Japanese Government." * 

In a long editorial on Japanese massacres of Korean 
inhabitants in Manchuria, the Japan Advertiser 
(Tokyo) says in part: 

We cannot escape the conclusion that the missionaries' 
facts substantially are correct. These signed reports, it 
must be remembered, corroborate a great many others 
to the same effect. 

Their narratives are a flat contradiction of the sugges- 
tion that an inquiry of any sort took place before the kill- 
ing. If the proceedings at Noreabawie are reported cor- 
rectly, there was a discrimination beyond what was im- 
plied, in fact only able-bodied men were killed. 

If, when burning a village is punishment, you give or- 
ders to shoot all able-bodied males, it is obvious that the 
plea that no executions take place without inquiry or trial, 
is worthless. The word execution cannot possibly be 
used when there is no pretense of accusation or trial. 

What opinion can be formed in other countries, except 
that this is a campaign of frightfulness, in which murder 
and massacre are deliberately employed?" 

The local self-government, promised by the Imperial 
Rescript and official announcement of Premier Hara, 
Is being carried out in some districts In Korea, not as 
a measure of giving self-government to the Koreans, 

* Press dispatch via Japanese military telegraph to Seoul, thence 
to Tokyo and to America, November 30, 1920. 

* Quoted by Frederick Smith, Far Eastern correspondent of the 
Chicago Tribune, in a dispatch to his paper, December 4, 1920. 



278 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

but as a part of the Japanese espionage system. Ko- 
reans were allowed to meet together for the discussion 
of their local affairs, presided over by Japanese. If a 
Korean shows any signs of anti- Japanese spirit, he is 
rushed off to prison. In each community, the leader 
of the meeting must report to the police every man who 
entertains " dangerous thoughts." A leader, who fails 
to make the report, if found out, is given proper pun- 
ishment — usually confinement without trial coupled 
with flogging. Thus, the " self-governing " measure 
of Japanese rule in Korea is another means of weeding 
out Koreans who show any spirit of freedom. 

All this myth of Japanese " reforms " in Korea is 
not at all surprising to the Korean. By his sad ex- 
periences in the past, the Korean has learned that he 
cannot believe Japanese on oath. In 1895, when the 
Korean Queen was murdered by the Japanese Minis- 
ter, Count Miura, under the instruction of his Govern- 
ment, the West was horrified. In order to save the 
face of Japan, Count Miura was removed from his 
post, and Marquis Ito, then the Premier of Japan, de- 
clared that he would see to it that the culprits would 
be punished. The Japanese court at Hiroshima found 
that "about dawn the whole party (Japanese assas- 
sins) entered the palace through the Kwang-hwa gate, 
and at once proceeded to the inner chambers. Not- 
withstanding these facts, there is no sufficient evidence 
to prove that any of the accused actually committed the 
crime originally meditated by them." ^ Thus the case 
was dismissed. And Count Miura and his fellow-as- 
* Appendix I. 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED EEFOEMS 279 

sassins were heralded throughout the Japanese Empire 
as national heroes. 

The same thing is taking place now. Japanese can 
no longer deny the wanton massacres carried on by 
their soldiers under the instruction of Hasegawa and 
Yamagata, the two chief culprits in the Korean crime. 
So the two men resigned from their posts in Korea to 
save the face of Japan, They should have been tried 
and punished according to their crimes. Instead, 
Premier Hara says in commenting on the resignation 
of these two men: " I regret to announce the resigna- 
tion of Marshal Hasegawa, Governor-General, and 
Mr. Yamagata, Director-General of Administration, 
both of whom have rendered eminent service to the 
State at the Important posts which they have occupied 
for several years." ^ 

In case of gendarmes and soldiers, who did the ac- 
tual killing, they not only still remain in Korea to carry 
on their rule of terror under a different name, but they 
have been awarded honoraria by the Japanese Govern- 
ment of 150 yen to 400 yen according to rank and 
service rendered to the cause of Greater Japan by their 
heroism in killing defenseless men, women and chil- 
dren. 

It is said by those who have Interviewed Baron Salto 
that the new Governor-General Is sincere In his desire 
to better conditions in Korea, although he has not as 
yet given any signs of his good intentions. Even if 
he has good Intentions, he can do nothing unless given 

* Premier Hara's ofificial announcement given to the press by 
the Japanese Embassy at Washington, August 20,.I9I9. 



280 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

a free hand from above and cooperation from below. 
He has neither at present. When the Tokyo Govern- 
ment appointed him the civil Governor of Korea, they 
withdrew him from retirement and put him on the 
active list of the navy. This, in effect, makes the civil 
administration of Korea a part of the Japanese mili- 
tary regime as it has been in the past, and the civil 
Governor is under the thumbscrew of Japanese milita- 
rists. Baron Saito has no alternative but to continue 
the Japanese policy of assimilation or annihilation 
forced upon the Koreans by his predecessors, Terauchi 
and Hasegawa, under the instruction of official Tokyo. 
The second obstacle standing in the path of Baron 
Saito is the system of Japanese colonial bureaucracy 
that has existed in Korea ever since the annexation. 
However good the Governor-General's intentions may 
be to better conditions in Korea, no change of any kind 
can be brought about without a complete sweep-out of 
the present officials, from highest to lowest. It is be- 
yond question that these officials will never be any 
better than they have been, even under orders. Al- 
ready it is evident that some of the good orders that 
have been issued by Baron Saito have been quietly 
pigeonholed by the men lower down. A Japanese of- 
ficer in Korea, no matter how humble his station may 
be, is an autocrat in his sphere. He has little knowledge 
of administration and cares less. He believes in his 
superiority and struts along with rattling sabre, bully- 
ing and robbing, on the slightest pretext, every Korean 
who crosses his path. A grain of common sense or a 
knowledge of human nature is an unknown quantity 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED EEFOEMS 281 

among the Japanese officialdom in Korea. If Baron 
Saito attempts genuine reforms in Korea, depending 
on the support of these officials, one may waste a little 
pity on him. 

Above and beneath all the high-sounding official 
declarations and beautiful promises of reforms, what 
are the facts and where are the reforms? They are 
the proof of Japanese pudding of Civil Administration 
in Korea. I quote the following from an American 
eye-witness which gives a vivid picture of Japan's al- 
leged reforms in Korea: 

What are the facts? To the impartial observer it is 
difficult to see wherein the outlook of the officialdom as 
a whole is changed. Tortures, as I have said before, 
have not ceased. The Japanese deny this, but the evi- 
dence is there for whoever seeks it. Every day innocent 
men are being arrested, in Seoul, in Taiku, in Shen Chen, 
in Pyeng Yang, in Chemulpo, in scores of other cities; 
every day they are being arrested on the vaguest sus- 
picion, tortured to make them " confess," held for several 
days or weeks and then, if nothing is found against them, 
released without explanation or apology — just turned out. 
There is no denying this. I have talked to a score of such 
men myself. I sat in my room in one city and had them 
come to me one at a time and tell me their stories. Bet- 
ter yet, I have seen the marks on their bodies, the 
wrenched arms, the torn flesh where ropes had been 
bound tight, the rotted flesh where they had been flogged 
ninety strokes with three bamboo rods tied together with 
rough cord. Word of mouth may be deceptive, those 
marks are not; they are not self-inflicted just for the 
purpose of deceiving one newspaperman. 

Thousands of youths, both boys and girls, are still in 
prison in the freezing cold of Korea for having done no 



282 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

more than shout Mansei. There is no word of ampesty, 
no hint of mitigation of sentences ; instead, there is mis- 
treatment in foul prisons. 

In one city a girls' society made a large number of 
straw shoes which it asked permission to send to the, 
women in one prison. Permission was refused. The 
women are still walking the icy stone prison floors in 
their hare feet night and day. 

Detectives and spies are paid so much per person for 
arrests, irrespective of guilt or innocence. And it is 
openly charged that the procedure of the Conspiracy Case 
is being repeated. On the pretext of political charges 
men are being put into prison whom it is wanted to get 
out of the way for other reasons ; leaders in business and 
possible competitors, scholars, Christian pastors. These 
men may or may not have any connection with the inde- 
pendence movement; the object is to prevent the growth 
of a Korean leadership even for non-political purposes.* 

The Japanese rule in Korea, ever since the annexa- 
tion, has been a continual series of deceits, intimida- 
tions, cajoleries, oppressions and treacheries. The 
Korean well understands the nature of the Japanese, 
and therefore, he does not expect any reforms. It has 
been the history of Japanese domination in Korea that 
whenever there was any criticism In the West of their 
misrule, the criticism was met by announcement of 
reforms. There were to be reforms In 1905 after the 
protectorate was established; reforms In 1907 when 
Prince Ito took over the administration; reforms in 
1910 when the country was formally annexed ; reforms 
after the Infamous Conspiracy trials of 1912-13. Now 

^ Nathaniel Pefifer, " A Japanese Idea of Reform," China Press, 
December i6, 1919. 



JAPAN'S ALLEGED EEFOEMS 283 

once again there are to be reforms. Calculating and 
relentless, the ruling caste of Japan will not introduce 
any genuine reforms in Korea unless they are forced 
to do so, either by foreign pressure or internal revo- 
lution. At present, there are signs of neither. What 
little liberalism in Japan we hear of in America is 
manufactured for export purposes, especially to 
America, not for home consumption. Indeed, Senator 
Henry Cabot Lodge hit the bull's eye of the promises 
of Japanese statesmen when he said in his speech on 
the Shantung question in the Senate: "Whatever 
promises she (Japan) has made were all marked by 
one vital omission — time." Premier Hara said that 
the reforms in Korea will be initiated " eventually " 
and will be carried into effect " when time is considered 
opportune." This loose phrase is capable of many in- 
terpretations according to the wishes and conveniences 
of the Japanese Government. Baron Saito, the Civil 
Governor of Korea, reflected the opinion of the Pre- 
mier when he said in his report on the Korean situa- 
tion to the Japanese Diet on February 23, 1921, nearly 
two years after the reforms and Civil Administration 
went into effect, that the " extension of the Japanese 
electoral law to Korea must await the time when the 
people of that country are capable of exercising the 
duties of citizenship." ^ 

Bishop Warren A. Candler, President Emeritus of 
Emory College, expresses the opinion of the best in- 
formed on the oft-repeated reform announcements in 
the Japanese Government in Korea, when he says in 
* New York Times, February 25, 1921. 



284 THE CASE OP KOEEA 

an article, " The Hun of the Orient in the Belgium of 
the East." 

The recent proclamation of Japan, in which the mis- 
deeds of the militarists in Korea are confessed and a 
better order of things under civilians is promised, should 
deceive no intelligent and informed man. The change 
of men will have no effect to change measures. Japan's 
promises with reference to Korea have never been kept. 
Her treaty, guaranteeing the independence of Korea, was 
shamelessly broken in less than three years after it was 
signed. Germany did not prove faithless to Belgium so 
quickly, nor so disgracefully. Japan cannot be trusted to 
treat Korea with justice and humanity. 

In 1906 I visited both Japan and Korea, and there I 
saw such oppression of Koreans by the Japanese that the 
atrocities perpetrated during the present year do not sur- 
prise me.'' 

The Korean, on the other hand, will not be satisfied 
even if genuine reforms are introduced in Korea. His 
cry is complete independence. He has been aroused 
from his long sleep by the sound of clashing arms, the 
cry of a murdered queen, the tramp of armed men. 
He is proud of the accomplishments of his forefathers, 
and is willing to make himself a worthy heir of his 
past glory. He sees the privileges of political inde- 
pendence and is ready to shoulder the responsibilities 
accompanying it. Besides this spirit of national con- 
sciousness for freedom, the Korean entertains bitter 
hatred towards the Japanese, and feels that the less 
he has to do with his Island neighbour, the better off 
he will be. 

* The Atlanta Journal, September 7, 1919. 



XVII 

KOREAN AND JAPANESE CHARACTERS 
CONTRASTED 

" X"^' OREA at the present time would be a fertile 
■^ field for another Bryce investigating com- 

-■- ^- mission," writes a close observer of the trend 
of events in that far-off land. But Korea presents 
more than a land of tragedy ; it is a scene of constantly 
changing drama of sublime pathos and inspiring hero- 
ism. The inter-play of the innermost human passions 
and subtle racial psychology, which forms the back- 
ground of the play, is never lost to view. Aside from 
the question of forced assimilation, which is an inter- 
esting study in itself, the fundamental difference be- 
tween the Koreans and the Japanese, and how each 
people look at the same problem from an entirely dif- 
ferent point of view, is a study well worth research. 

The Koreans always worshipped Hananim, a name 
that conveys the idea of one Supreme Ruler over the 
universe. This monotheism in Korea is, undoubtedly, 
one of the reasons for the amazing success of the 
Christian missionary among the Korean people. To 
the Korean, moral courage, rather than physical cour- 
age, is by far the superior type, and unity of mind and 
consciousness of one's duty to a great cause is power. 

285 



286 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Once a girl " rebel " was asked by the judge in a trial 
court, "What is independence?" "Independence?" 
said the girl, and her eyes looked beyond the stuffy 
court, " what is independence ? Ah ! independence is 
a happy thought ! " This spiritual understanding of 
one's consecration to a great cause enabled the Korean 
boys and girls, to say nothing of the grown-ups, to 
meet the police and soldiers with the cry: " You may 
kill my body, but you will never kill the spirit that 
makes me shout Mansei." 

Mrs. Robertson Scott, an English novelist, who was 
in Korea during the Independence Movement of 1919, 
in her analysis of the " warring mentalities " in Korea, 
records the following incident as a typical trend of the 
Korean mind: 

A clergyman in Seoul — such a young man as may be 
met any day at a Cambridge tea-party — said with deep 
conviction, " The Koreans are so brave that the Japanese 
do not understand it. The Koreans, I believe, are the 
only people on earth who are really ' meek ' in the scrip- 
tural sense. The Japanese think their meekness is 
cowardice, whereas it is moral strength." * 

To the Japanese the only power is material might, 
which has one embodiment — the army and navy. 
Such a thing as noblesse oblige in governing a weaker 
people is unknown among Japanese officials, both civil 
and military. In its place, they have false dignity and 
self-conceit, which is always coupled with a tendency 

*" Warring Mentalities in the Far East," by Mrs. Robertson 
Scott, Asia, August, 1920, pp. 693-701. 



CHAEACTEES CONTEASTED 287 

to be cringing before the strong and overbearing 
towards the weak. Hence, they show their smirk and 
smile to the Westerners, but to those weaker than they 
in the East, their fiendish nature of calculating treach- 
ery and relentless brutality is revealed. Professor 
Inazo Nitobe, the eloquent interpreter of the Japanese 
Bushido to the Western world, says with regard to 
Korea: " I do believe it is the right of every people to 
do as they will, regardless of consequences to their 
neighbours." ^ Professor Nitobe must have two sets 
of interpretations of the Bushido — the beautiful, self- 
denying and chivalrous interpretation for the West, 
and the interpretation based on the doctrine that might 
makes right for the East. 

It is Japanese political philosophy that individual 
citizens exist for the sake of the State, and not the 
State for the welfare of its citizens. Hence, morality, 
conscience, humanity, frank statement — everything is 
sacrificed for the cause Of Greater Japan. In the most 
cruel periods of Japanese tyranny of Korea, and dur- 
ing the worst of the reign of terror, March and April, 
1919, there was not a single Japanese citizen or civilian 
official to protest, much less to criticize, to their Gov- 
ernment with a view of stopping the atrocities. When 
foreigners began to protest in the name of humanity, 
then a number of citizens and civil officials, as a face- 
saving device, start to criticize the military officials for 
their " harshness," thus using the soldiers and police as 
the scapegoat. 

*From an article by Inazo Nitobe in Japan Magazine, April, 
1920. 



288 THE CASE OF KOBE A 

All through the fires of political persecution during 
the Independence Movement, the fundamental differ- 
ence between the Korean and Japanese characters were 
brought out in bold relief. The Japanese looked upon 
the Koreans as possessing no power. The Korean, in 
his turn, not only hated, but despised, the Japanese. 
The Japanese thought they could stamp out the fires 
of Korean patriotism with their iron heel, whereas 
they only fanned the smouldering flame with their 
schrecklichkeit. The action and reaction of the two 
different mentalities, Korean and Japanese, on the 
same question, is a fascinating study, even though 
connected with grim tragedy. 

Of the wide survey that I have made of current 
literature and the mass of unpublished manuscripts on 
the topic, I find none that presents with greater force 
and precision the contrast between the Korean and 
Japanese mentalities and their respective views on the 
Korean situation than the two anonymous articles 
which I subjoin. One on " The Korean's Courage " 
is from an unpublished manuscript, and the other on 
" Japan's Problem " appeared in the Japan Advertiser, 
July 11, 1919, under the nom de plume of " Spectator." 
The author of these two articles is a Britisher, who has 
resided in the Orient for over thirty years, and who is 
a profound scholar of Oriental history and politics. 

The Korean's Courage 

It was thought by those who knew the Korean best 
that he was a man lacking courage. He possessed a 
kind of frenzy, under high pressure, that would go to 



CHAEACTEES CONTEASTED 289 

the bitter end. But for cool courage that could smile 
down any menace that might threaten, he has never been 
given the credit. In these days of his new birth as a na- 
tion, however, he has displayed characteristics that have 
caused the onlooking foreigners to stand in wonder. He 
may be a timid man before small dangers, like Queen 
Elizabeth, who, though ready to climb onto the table at 
the sight of a mouse in the room, could say, with the 
Armada sailing up the Channel, " I have only the body 
of a weak, feeble woman, but I have the heart and 
stomach of a king; and of a king of England, too." This 
heart and stomach is Korea's, for, during these last two 
memorable months, not a fear has been hers. Quiet, cool, 
calculated courage has she shown, much as any admiral 
moving into action might well be eager for. 

Korea has learned through the years gone by that the 
machine that benevolently governs her is of the order of 
the Hun. It makes laws ; it fixes and regulates everything 
under the sun, almost to a man's breath, verboten this 
and verboten that ; it keeps tab on your every motion ; it 
has spies and police and gendarmes and soldiers at its 
beck and call. Rats listen back of the wall at night and 
birds catch your thoughts during the day and convey 
them to the chief of police or gendarmerie. Your house 
is searched at any hour by barbarians, who walk over the 
inner mats with their boots on, and then wash their dirty 
hands in your drinking water at the door. If you get in 
their way, they drive their scabbard into your stomach 
or promptly give you the gun-butt back of the ear in a 
way to make you see stars. They wear hobnails ready to 
kick or trample any man, woman, or child, who falls foul 
of them. They have back of them an inferno little better 
than Tartarus, fitted with prison bars and torture cham- 
bers that might well daunt the stoutest patriot. Korea 
knows this. She has not lived ten years without sensing 
the kind of ogre who has her in his grip, and what it 



290 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

means for any man to rise and say, " I'll have none of 
you." 

In the face of this, it took courage on March i for the 
thirty-three leaders, here and there throughout the land, 
to come boldly out. Not a weapon did they have. Bel- 
gium was brave when she threw her army into the breach 
and defied the German millions, but Korea was braver 
still when she said, " I have no arms, no power to fight, 
no one to whom to appeal but God, no redress. Even 
my body is not mine — only my soul. My soul only, but 
bend it never will." They spoke the word. They set the 
movement going. They gave their benediction to all 
around, with smiling faces, and then walked quietly to 
arrest, and unresistingly let themselves be taken. The 
prison doors clanged hard behind them, with no word 
since. We hear reports of pain and mortal agony, but 
even the wife at home keeps a cheerful face and says, 
" Never mind, it's for the Cause." 

Those who are on the spot, like the writer, know that 
this is courage of the first order. The martyrs, who went 
to the stake in the sixteenth century, were not braver; 
not even those who died in the days of Nero. 

Still, the men on that first day did not know what 
fully awaited them, and so may have gone forth unwit- 
tingly. Ere night fell crowds had been cut down with 
swords, beaten with fire-hooks, hammered with blud- 
geons, shot, trampled, ridden over, till peace was re- 
stored. 

The demon of order that rules Korea doubtless said, 
" I've taught these fools a lesson. They'll think twice 
before they venture again to run counter to the might of 
Japan." 

Little did he know. It has not ceased till this day. 
Here and there by day, by night, crowds gather like 
armies of the unseen, suddenly flashed visible. " Long 
live Korea ! Independence forever ! " 



CHARACTERS CONTRASTED 291 

No word has been heard of " Down with Japan," no 
resentment shown. Had Korea desired, on that second 
day, seeing her bleeding, trampled sons, and knowing how 
the foul fiend would treat them in prison, she could 
have armed herself with clubs and stones and killed every 
Japanese in the outlying country and burned every house 
in Seoul, with probably less punishment than she took 
for simply calling Freedom. But this was not her order 
of the day. " Hurt no one. Do no violence. Let our 
Cause be known. It is just." 

Doubtless Japan has kind hearts in many places, and 
she must not all be condemned, but kind hearts are not 
evident in the machine that governs Korea, and to the 
Korean this machine is Japan and all Japan. It 
thought that a few rounds of this kind would surely end 
the mad craze that possessed the Korean and deliver the 
Government from the trouble on hand, but no such re- 
sult followed. 

When one group was put down by sword, gun and iron 
bar, others stepped into their places to take up the call. 
Like the fiery cross of ancient Scotland, it flits from hand 
to hand, till the whole land is caught by its spirit and the 
only thought is to pass it on. 

One of the striking features of courage is that shown 
by the young women. Right well they know what tor- 
tures await them if they are caught, and yet they have 
been as fearless as the men. Some of those taken March 
5, when on their way to wave the flag, tell their story. 
Kicked, beaten and flung into the police station, there to 
undergo such torture as would daunt the bravest ! 

Girls brought up in tender surroundings just as care- 
fully as regards their persons as any young woman in 
the Western world, are subjected to this agony, and yet 
they take it with smiling faces. A few days ago I met 
one of them, whom the police are close after, and said 
to her, " Have a care. Keep out of it." She smiled in 



292 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

an easy, unsuppressed way, said her gentle thanks and 
was gone. 

Kim Maria, a young woman of about twenty-five years 
of age, whom I have known from a child, is now locked 
up in the inner prison. She is a beautiful type of 
Oriental with dreamy eyes and dark lashes, such as only 
the hidden vistas of Asia ever see. For some years she 
has lived in Japan and speaks her language like a native 
tongue. What is her sin? The same as that which sent 
Madame Breshkovsky to the salt mines of Siberia. She 
is a patriot and would give her life to see Korea free. 
Maria knew what others suffered before she went, but 
that must not interfere with her contribution to the Cause. 
She chose Tennyson's line, " the thumbscrew and the 
stake for the glory of the Lord." 

Another mark of Korea's courage is seen in the plain 
men of the country, the small farmer, who has had little 
chance to know the larger questions of life. In his quiet 
soul many of Confucius' maxims reside. He is no Bol- 
shevik, not he, for the Five Rules that hold society to- 
gether in East Asia hold him firm. He has awakened, 
however, to the fact that all men are born somehow with 
certain inherent rights, the right to think, the right to 
speak, the right to pray. He joins the vast throng of 
Koreans, now numbering millions, who are on the march 
shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom. He knows, as the 
Daily News to-day announces, that any man calling Free- 
dom will get ninety blows of the bastinado. What is 
left of him will be but a poor rag to start ploughing for 
the summer season. Still, he is undaunted and goes 
forth. The gendarmes and soldiers, half beside them- 
selves, and not knowing what to do, fire pointblank into 
these defenseless crusaders with ball cartridges, thinking 
to stamp them out, but not a bit of It. 

I asked a former provincial Governor, who called on 
me yesterday, what is in the mind of the Korean country 



CHAEACTEES CONTEASTED 293 

folk that they take this kind of punishment and yet keep 
on. " A definite conviction," says he, " has mysteriously 
come to possess our whole people that their Cause is 
right and that the right will win. They have no hatred of 
their oppressors, no desire for revenge. If we had, we 
could soon exercise it and kill every Japanese in sight as 
we did in 1884, but that's not it." The com/iction among 
Christians and non-Christians alike is that God is on the 
side of right, and that He will move their Cause to win. 
So the farmer dies with no resentment in his soul against 
any individual Japanese. 

I know the case of a man, whose young nephew was 
shot and killed by a gendarme. The people of the town 
captured the Japanese and threatened his life because he 
had shot an innocent boy. But the old farmer arrived in 
hot haste to say, " Let him go. Killing would only add 
crime to crime. Let him go." Thus, they come to the 
Severance Hospital, shot through the neck, through the 
abdomen, lacerated with bayonet thrusts or hacked with 
sword. 

This is the farmer, but how about the aristocrat ? The 
former rulers of the land — ^have they any iron in their 
blood? One example comes to me, Yi Sang-jai. He 
was born in the same year as Lord Kitchener, 1850. 
He is not so tall, never wore a sword, is much more 
genial than Kitchener, but like him in this respect — that 
a million young men admire him and answer to his 
call. 

Yi has for years stood for reform, and while sent once 
to Washington as secretary of the legation, and later 
made secretary of the cabinet of the old regime, the Japa- 
nese have always regarded him as a dangerous man, be- 
cause of his power as a speaker. 

The following will give the reader an idea of the kind 
of fearless man he is. To trifle with the police in Korea 
is like playing with dynamite. Recently, they called on 



294 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

him and asked if he were aware of who was back of this 
Korean movement. 

" Why do you ask me ? " was his question. 

" Because we rather think you may know — do you? " 

His reply was, " Why, yes, I do. You mean the chair- 
man of the committee that is running it ? " 

" Exactly." 

" Well," said Yi, " I'm glad to tell you. His name is 
God Almighty. He is back of it." 

The police answered, " Nonsense ! We don't mean 
that. Who are the people that are running it — do you 
know them ? " 

" Yes, I know them," was Yi's answer, " know them 
all." 

" Tell us, then," said they, with note-books ready. 

" All the Korean people," said Yi, " from Fusan to the 
Ever-white Mountains and beyond. They are all in it. 
They are the committee back of the agitation." 

The dry grin on Yi's face was too much for the Japa- 
nese police, who packed up their note-books with other 
gear and left. 

On March 26, Mr. Usami, Director of Home Affairs, 
sent a Japanese who speaks and writes Korean, to Mr. 
Yi Sang-jai with these questions : 

(i) What is the reason for this agitation? 

(2) What is the mind of the Korean people towards 
the Japanese Government? 

(3) What do you suggest in the way of change to set 
matters right? 

" In answer to number one," said Yi, " I am aware of 
only two ways of holding an alien people — one by good 
faith and the other by force. Good faith rests on mutual 
confidence, and the assurance that the Government will 
do the square thing. Japan, however, broke faith when 
she went counter to the treaty of 1904, which says, ' The 
Imperial Government of Japan definitely guarantees the 



CHAEACTEES OONTEASTED 295 

independence and integrity of the Korean Empire.' In 
the eyes of the Korean people your Emperor Meiji hed, 
and they now regard all Japanese as liars. There is no 
faith possible here. Your only hold upon us is brute 
force, and that leads to its own destruction. Your brutal 
Government, and the mistrust we have of you and all 
your nation, is the cause of the present agitation. 

" In answer to question number two, I must say that 
not a Korean is with you. In the ordeal through which 
we are passing, we have become a united people, united 
in this one thing — that we are all against Japan. The 
Korean mind, due to your unfaithful and oppressive ac- 
tions, has receded miles away from you, never to return. 

" As to the matter of a remedy, I have no suggestion. 
Even though I made suggestions, you have no power to 
carry them through, nor has Hasegawa. Leave it as it 
is, your destruction lies ahead." 

I have noticed that the Japanese have a sort of fear of 
Yi Sang-jai, much as the Jews had of Amos, the prophet. 
He has no fear of them. 

Arrested April 4, he now is locked up in the big 
prison outside the west gate of Seoul. An underground 
messenger made inquiry some time ago of the Minister 
of Home Affairs as to Mr. Yi's offense. " A very dan- 
gerous mouth," was the answer. 

The last time I saw him was on March 30. Never 
had I seen in our more than twenty years' acquaintance 
anything but smiles on his face. His was always the 
cheerful word in spite of adverse wind and weather ; but 
on our last meeting, tears filled his eyes. Was it because 
of fear of arrest? Not he. " What is an old dog like me 
doing, loose and running about in a day like this? Into 
prison I should go and lend my seventy years to the 
Cause." His tears were these : " Our girls and young 
women," said he, " are in the hands of savages, no hu- 
manity in them." 



296 THE CASE OF KOBEA 

Even the children lift their little hands to Heaven to 
lend their aid. One laddie of six said to his father, " Fa- 
ther, will they take you to jail? " 

" They may," was the answer. 

" If they do, don't sign your name." This refers to a 
forced putting of one's stamp to a paper confessing 
wrong or making confession. 

The father was taken a few days later, but finally re- 
leased. When he came home, before the little lad could 
think of rejoicing, he asked, " Father, you did not sign 
your name, did you ? " 

" No," said he, " I signed nothing," so his little boy 
was glad. 

Great crises bring out the true nature of man. We 
foreigners, who once thought the Korean lacking in cour- 
age, have now an entirely different opinion of him. The 
present movement for Independence reveals the real fibre 
of the Korean race. We now see that he possesses an 
order of courage, combined with cool self-control, that is 
unsurpassed in the history of the world. 

Japan's Problem 

Doubtless, Japan felt in 1910, when the announcement 
was made, " Korea Annexed," that she had entered upon 
a path of glory unexampled by anything in her past his- 
tory. Here were 80,000 square miles of land — hers with 
the flag of the Rising Sun floating over it; a foothold 
gained on the mainland, and a definite start made for the 
mastery of East Asia. 

Had Korea been an Inanimate object, without soul, or 
sense, or feeling, it doubtless would have been as Japan 
thought. Her dry biting atmosphere of winter could 
have been overcome ; her dull brown hills could have been 
whipped into line, roads and waterways opened up, and 
a world of wonder made of her to blossom like the rose 



CHAEACTEES CONTEASTED 297 

— an agreeable picture to the mind of the ordinary Japa- 
nese, who had just heard that Korea was annexed. 

But the Japanese sometimes, Hke the rest of us, think 
they know it all before they have tried their apprentice 
hand, and, when the day of reckoning comes, the show- 
ing is poor. 

So it is to-day. The Japanese are trying to hide it 
even from themselves, but the fact remains that they have 
made a failure in Korea, so that the peninsula is less 
theirs to-day than when it was annexed. In her efforts 
of the last four months to compel the Korean to love 
her, she has driven even her friends away, and now has 
a problem on her hands that may well give her pause. 

Where lies the trouble ? What is the matter ? 

Foreigners go by and they see great material improve- 
ments in Korea: well ordered streets, better buildings, 
vastly improved sanitary conditions, increase of prosper- 
ity, and they herald the news abroad that Japan has been 
a boon unexampled. 

This is the superficial view that makes matter more 
than mind, and body greater than soul. It is the view of 
the man, who has not yet learned Shakespeare's little line, 
" There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes 
it so." 

The writer used to imagine that Japan would prove an 
expert at reading the Korean mind, seeing that she her- 
self was an Oriental, and was, therefore, within the 
charmed circle of the East. But he has changed his mind. 
Japan knows little or nothing of what Korea means or 
matters. The methods she adopts, the words she speaks, 
the announcements she makes, prove her ignorance. It 
is not unfair to say that she is wholly unaware of the kind 
of being she has to deal with, and so to-day has resorted 
to the bayonet and gun-butt to solve her problem. 

An old woman with her hand shot off by buckshot, a 
little boy of twelve with his skull smashed in, an old man 



298 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

smothered with his head in a cess-pool, are startling land- 
marks along the way, but they do not solve the problem. 

Japan began with a handicap. For a thousand y-ears 
and more the Korean has viewed the Japanese as his 
mortal enemy. Three hundred years ago this enemy 
landed and went through the country with fire and sword, 
confirming the view, till his name became the synonym 
for all that was evil. This name has remained ever since 
the Hideyoshi invasion. Now Japan comes over in the 
guise of the beneficent pater familias to rule. Starting 
with a debt heaped up, it surely behooved her to w^lk 
circumspectly, with all wisdom and sympathy, if ever she 
hoped to guide the people of Korea into a companionable 
relationship with herself. 

But she showed her mistaken reading of the problem 
from the very first by her determination to assimilate. 
She actually thought that she could make the Koreans 
Japanese ; wipe their language off the slate ; remake their 
history ; bury their literature out of sight, and cause them 
to forget 4,000 years of a civilization quite equal to that 
of Japan. She forgot that Koreans were an older race 
than herself, and that they taught her religion and m6rals, 
and were her masters in the arts and crafts that make 
her famous to-day ; that they are mentally quite her equal, 
though a people of entirely different ideals. Without 
a notion of all this, she has set to beat up and hammer 
them into freshly made Japanese, and put Bushido pa- 
triotism into their souls, as you would put salmon into a 
tin. Never was there a greater misreading of the other 
man, with utter failure in its wake. The Koreans to-day 
are united in their opposition to the whole Japanese prop- 
aganda, and will have nothing to do with it. It is not 
a question of Christians; peers, literati, farmers, labour- 
ers are all in it. 

The Japanese thought their civilization would win the 
Korean. They are an organized nation while the 



CHAEACTEES CONTEASTED 299 

Koreans are not. They have won a place in the council 
of nations, while the Korean has won nothing. They 
are orderly and diligent while the Korean is the reverse, 
but this again has failed. 

Along with Japanese civilization go some marked de- 
fects that the Korean sees full well. For example : their 
planting of the brothel system all over the land, and the 
exploiting of the fallen woman with a million dollars back 
of her, is something new to the Korean, and something 
that he has been quick to see. " We are an immoral race 
ourselves," says he, " but never as bad as this," and those 
who read and are acquainted with Korean history know 
that he is right. 

If Japan had understood even a little of what her task 
meant and ever hoped to win the Korean, she would have 
barred the door against the fallen woman, the unrighteous 
judge, the official land-grabber, and a host of other evils 
that stalk through the land. 

Japan forgets that Korea sees, takes note, and thinks. 
When her youth are forbidden every national ambition, 
but, instead, are tempted by hand-bill and word of mouth- 
to yield body and soul to the insidious snares of the vilest 
organizations, will she not see? The thinking classes 
cannot but say, " Don't talk to us of Japan ; she is not 
civilized." 

The Korean, like other varieties of human beings, can 
lie. Yet he knows that lying is degrading and will not 
allow his teacher, his governor or his magistrate to lie 
without branding him as an inferior order of being. The 
Japanese do not seem to know this. Here, too, they 
have misread the Korean mind. They think they can 
say anything they like in their Government papers, and 
report what is, or what is not, with impunity. They for- 
get that the Korean reads it with keen eye and common- 
sense and says, " Egregious liars, all of them." 

The fact that Viscount Kim Yun-sik, oldest of the 



300 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

peers, head of the Confucian collegey, and ever a friend 
of Japan in the past, joined the movement early in March, 
but, as yet, has found no mention in Korea's pubUc press ; 
or that Kwak Chong-suk's going to prison with all the 
literati in his train has called forth no comment, while the 
papers still talk as though the Christians and Chuntokyo 
were the whole movement, — all convinces the Korean the 
more that official Japan does not speak the truth. 

The task still remains. How is Japan going to do it? 
She will never make Japanese of the Koreans by force. 
The writer knows the Korean fairly well; once rouse 
him, and he is as hard as adamant. He calmly smiles at 
the all-accumulated terrors of Japan, and says, " Do 
your worst ; shoot and kill. The time will come when the 
tables will be turned, and I shall be ready for you." 

Japan is making out of Korea a hardened, fearless na- 
tion, where she will have nearly twenty millions of sworn 
enemies. This is the course that she is at present pur- 
suing. 

Can Japan solve the problem, or is it beyond her? 
Most thinking people think the latter. The writer thinks 
she might solve it if she would. Given a group of Japa- 
nese of the Kato order, who are fearless to start with, 
as fearless as the Koreans; who would read the other 
man sympathetically and see that though he is not equal 
to a Japanese in some respects, he is superior in others ; 
who would like to treat him as he himself would be 
treated, and we shall make a start at the solution. But 
to shoot pointblank with ball-cartridge into the crowd that 
simply says, " Give me liberty," or to pound with gun- 
butt and bludgeon those who smile and say, " Korea For- 
ever," or to insult decent girls because they will not be 
afraid, is a matter that will bring the ball-cartridge home 
to Japan some day. 



XVIII 

CONCLUSION 

" T APAN has started something that she is unable 
I to finish ! " observed one Westerner, comment- 
^ ing on the Korean situation. That hits the nail 
on the head. The Western pubHc was informed by the 
Japanese Government that civil administration has 
been introduced in Korea; that reforms of various 
kinds have been Initiated ; that the situation in the pen- 
insula had reached its high-water mark in March and 
April, 1919, and had now simmered down to mere 
chronic grievances. Japan would have Westerners be- 
lieve that all is well and peaceful in Korea by this time. 
But the fact of the matter is that the Independence 
Movement merely began in March and April, 1919, 
and the Koreans are determined to carry it through to 
its end. With all her force and brutality, Japan has 
opened the lid of the Pandora's box of Korean in- 
dependence. The movement is, in truth, more uni- 
versal among the Koreans now than it was last year, 
and arrests, tortures and military oppression still con- 
tinue. A number of able observers visited Korea since 
the introduction of reform measures under the civil 
administration of Admiral Salto. The united testi- 
mony of these witnesses, on the present conditions in 
Korea, speaks for itself. 

301 



302 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Nathaniel Peffer, the special correspondent of the 
China Press, Shanghai, the most influential American 
daily in China, was in Korea in December, 1919. He 
published in his paper a series of articles, entitled: 
" The Truth About Korea." Mr. Peffer is not anti- 
Japanese, nor is he pro-Korean ; he simply wrote about 
the existing conditions in Korea as he saw them. I 
quote the following passages from one of his articles 
which are illuminating on the present situation in 
Korea under the civil administration of Japan. 

There is now in the heart of Korea, of every Korean, a 
bitterness against Japan that cannot be expunged at 
least for a generation, if then. It is a bitterness that has 
grown slowly and cumulatively in the ten years of op- 
pression since annexation, and was permanently fixed by 
the cruelty with which the unarmed and peaceful dem- 
onstrations of March were crushed. The Japanese may 
now realize their error and make restitution. And, 
looked at theoretically, that may be regarded as satis- 
faction to Korea and even victory. But racial attitudes 
are matters of instinct. And it is a matter of instinct now 
with the Koreans. They do not reason ; they do not claim 
to be logical. Their bitterness is implanted in them; it 
is in the blood of their veins. Before that bitterness re- 
forms, even the reforms they have asked and would be- 
fore have been satisfied with, are as nothing. They want 
independence, and only independence. They may not win 
it, may not win it for decades or ever, but they will be 
satisfied with nothing less. And they will struggle, openly 
or under cover, to the point, I believe, of racial suicide. 
It is not a matter of whether or not they are legally en- 
titled to independence, whether or not in the present state 
of international morality Japan can reasonably be ex- 
pected to grant independence, whether or not Korea is 



CONCLUSION 303 

yet qualified for independence. The Koreans do not 
even think of those questions ; they refuse to. It is a mat- 
ter of hatred, not reason. It is not for other people to 
say whether or not they are justified. But it is impos- 
sible not to face that as the basic, central fact, and it is 
necessary to state it as such and to realize its conse- 
quences. And it is possible to find and to state its causes. 
But make no mistake about this; instinctive as the de- 
termination may be, it is not being executed blindly. To 
the outer world Korea may be quiescent; inwardly it is 
seething with activity. The " Provisional Government " 
that lately sat at Shanghai is not a comic opera fancy. 
Under the surface Korea is to-day completely organized, 
and, almost Hterally under ground, that organization is 
functioning. Its existence is known to the Japanese ; no 
secret is revealed in talking of it. But its personnel, the 
method of its activities, its location and its support have 
the Japanese completely baffled. Their veritable army 
of spies, many of them renegade Koreans, avails them 
nothing. They make arrests by the hundreds, but whom 
they have they do not know, and they punish the innocent 
with the guilty. But arrests or no arrests, the organiza- 
tion goes on nevertheless. Even the Koreans who are in 
it are largely ignorant of its secret. They know only 
their own part. And even of those same renegade 
Koreans who serve Japan as spies it is understood that 
there are some serving it by reporting Japanese intentions 
and deceiving the Japanese. That, too, is no secret. The 
Japanese know it; they have caught some doing that. 
It is the atmosphere of the melodrama, and to live now 
in Korea is thrilling. True, the end may reveal it as 
tragedy. Probably it will; but it will be an historic 
tragedy. 

Two facts must be impressed in connection with the 
Korean movement. The first is that this is no work of 



304 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

" professional agitators." It is a truly national move- 
ment. The second is the remarkable organization behind 
it and the efficiency with which it operated and still op- 
erates. I do not mean to say that every peasant in every 
remote village has reasoned out to himself all the causes 
and implications of the movement. I do not mean to say 
that every village peasant understands the full implica- 
tions of independence. I do mean to say that it is felt 
by every Korean, or the overwhelming majority of 
Koreans; that the instinct is strong if not the logical 
processes. And races, as well as individuals, move as 
much by instinct as by reason. And if the movement 
was not national in March, it undeniably is so now. The 
Japanese have made it so. What eyes were closed before 
are opened now, where resignation was before is now 
defiance. The Japanese have made the Koreans patriots 
as they wished — but patriots for Korea. In spite of 
themselves, they have done a great thing for Korea. Ig- 
norant men, thoughtless boys and girls who took part in 
the demonstrations in the excitement of the moment and 
without reckoning its consequences have come out of jail 
not with regrets ; far from that, they are now dedicated 
to the cause of independence. I have talked to men and 
women only ten hours from prison, who have endured 
in prison sufferings to shake the spirit of martyrs. And 
they have said to me that, knowing well all that it means, 
they would go willingly back to their cells the same day 
if it would help their cause. They did not all talk lightly 
and in bravado ; I knew of some papers that they had in 
the big folds of their clothes while they were speaking, 
papers that would send them back into imprisonment for 
six months more. These were not your natural radicals, 
not the intellectuals, but plain men and women, shop- 
keepers and farmers, wives and mothers. Japan does not 
^ven dimly understand what it has stirred up. 
I An equally remarkable fact is the thoroughness and 



CONCLUSION 305 

efficiency with which the movement was planned and 
executed. None of the officials with the best intelligence 
service at their command or of the foreigners who are 
closest in touch with Koreans had even the smallest 
knowledge or warning of what was to come. There was 
unrest in the air; that everybody knew, but no more. 
Only the leaders knew and those who were carrying out 
the plans. Copies of the declaration of independence had 
been printed by thousands and sent throughout the 
country ready for distribution. Thousands of small 
Korean flags had been made and sent about — and it has 
always been a crime to have one of these in one's posses- 
sion. Meetings had been arranged and their speakers 
chosen and the exact time fixed for each city. Propa- 
ganda had already been sent abroad — a copy of the decla- 
ration of independence and a statement of Korea's posi- 
tion were brought to me in the office of The China 
Press the same day the declaration was proclaimed. 
Money had been raised. A daily paper called the In- 
dependence Newspaper was being secretly printed in the 
same manner as La Libre Belgique and with the same 
thrilling accompaniments. A complex, national organi- 
zation was working smoothly. For the first time in their 
history Koreans had shown a capacity for cooperative 
and united action. And all of it at dire peril and under 
heavy cover. It is an impressive achievement. 

That organization is still functioning and the spirit 
behind it is still active. I have already touched on this 
in a previous article. I have told how the country is 
divided up and a secret government is in force. Orders 
are given, secretly communicated — usually by girls and 
women who travel about with papers hidden in their 
clothes — and secretly executed. Communications are 
maintained with Shanghai and with England and 
America. Money is raised, collected and sent out. Mil- 
lions of yen have been smuggled over the Yalu River into 



306 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Manchuria and China, and thousands have been caught 
in transit by the Japanese and confiscated, the bearers 
getting harsh punishment. Men and women disappear 
and again appear. The Independence Paper still comes 
out at irregular intervals. It is printed on mimeographs, 
carried about over the country and distributed. Men 
find it on their desks, knowing neither how it came nor 
when. Where the mimeographs are obtained, where they 
are kept, when they are operated — all this is as baffling 
to the Japanese as it is to the stray tourist. 

Behind the secret government itself is what is called 
the National Society. As one man explained to me, this 
is for the purpose of fitting the people for independence, 
of teaching them the meaning of self-government and its 
responsibilities and duties. The existence of this society 
is no secret, but who its members are and what they do 
— that is not known, even to all the members. Hundreds 
are being arrested on suspicion of connection with it, but 
the society goes on nevertheless. Arrests have become 
common in Korea. Men are taken up suddenly and with- 
out warning or explanation, are held in custody and 
beaten to make them yield information and are sentenced 
or released as the case may be. And every man who 
has been arrested and beaten without being guilty of any 
part in the movement immediately becomes a part of it. 

It is not to be thought that because nothing gets into 
the newspaper columns all is quiet in Korea. It is not. 
Even while I was there demonstrations occurred in Pyeng 
Yang and a few other places. A nation-wide demon- 
stration of the same kind as the one of last spring had 
been planned for the middle of the month, but the police 
learned of it and by an impressive show of force in the 
streets before it was to start compelled it to be called 
off. A national wailing day was set for public mourn- 
ing, but for reasons of expediency it, too, was called off. 
While I was there most of the schools were closed by a 



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CONCLUSION 307 

strike, the students refusing to go on studying Japanese 
for the number of hours prescribed ; they insist that it be 
taught only as a foreign language. 

Small boys in one school in Seoul waited until their 
Japanese principal came in and, drawn up smartly in 
military formation — according to the custom of the 
schools — informed the principal that they could no longer 
study out of Japanese text-books. The principal told 
them they would have to obey orders, but later the Gov- 
ernment might act on their demands. The youngsters 
quietly marched to a corner, tore their Japanese books 
into little bits, marched back in front of the principal, 
informed him they would come back to school when 
they no longer had to use Japanese text-books, smartly 
saluted and walked out. Such episodes occur regularly. 
They will continue to occur. The demonstrations may 
have been postponed last month ; as likely as not they will 
be held this month or next. They will continue to be 
held. And they will be continued to be the hardest kind 
of resistance to combat — ^passive resistance. Their war- 
fare is all out of Japanese technique. If the Koreans 
had arms with which to fight, the Japanese could shoot 
them down and crush them. When small boys merely 
tear up their text-books and walk out and grown men 
merely fold their arms and shout, " Long live Korea," 
the Japanese are at sea. They have no strategy of de- 
fense. Even torture has proven unavailing. 

Miss Elsie McCormIck, a trained journalist, and a 
careful judge of conditions and circumstances, was 
travelling through the Far East, in the spring of 1920 
with a delegation of American women, who were look- 
ing over the mission fields with especial reference to 
the work that could be done for native women. In 
recording her observations in Korea, she wrote: 



308 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

We began the day by going to see the nurses' dormi- 
tory at Severance Union Medical College, a missionary 
institution supported by four different denominations. 
We found the dormitories in confusion and the matron 
in tears. An hour before, the Japanese police had car- 
ried off one of the nurses on the pretext of using her for 
a witness; the nurses had just heard that the young 
woman had been bundled off to a prison in the country, 
far beyond the reach of those who might help her. She 
had gone without taking money or any personal belong- 
ings, and was, therefore, entirely without means of miti- 
gating the discomforts of imprisonment. No charge had 
been made against her; it was quite possible that no 
charge ever would be made, the missionaries declared. 

Two students in the Methodist Episcopal Girls' School 
at Seoul had recently been released as innocent after five 
months of solitary confinement, during which time there 
was not even the pretense of a trial. The merest sus- 
picion of disloyalty is quite enough to warrant an arrest, 
in the eyes of the Japanese. There seems to be a sys- 
tematic attempt to wear down the morale of the Koreans 
by a long process of goading and hectoring. 

We next visited the Presbyterian Girls' School. More 
confusion. Five Korean teachers had just been arrested 
by the Japanese police, and were being held incommuni- 
cado. One of the young women suffered from a rup- 
tured ear drum as the result of a beating received during 
a former term of imprisonment. Constant persecution of 
pupils and staff had reduced the enrollment from eighty 
to twenty-six, a missionary declared. Loss of the entire 
native faculty would probably mean the temporary clos- 
ing of the school. 

At the hospital connected with the Severance Union 
Medical College, we met a Korean doctor, who declared 
in great distress that his sister had been taken prisoner 
that morning, and that she had been separated from her 



CONCLUSION 309 

five months' old baby. " After all, however, we have 
fared better than other schools in the city," stated the 
physician in charge without a trace of sarcasm. " Only 
five of our medical students are in jail." 

Although the churches we visited on the following day 
seemed well filled to us, those who escorted us apologized 
for what they called meagre congregations, stating that 
many members were imprisoned, and that others had fled 
to Manchuria. Only one of the eight native Presbyterian 
pastors was out of jail, they said, which was a decided 
hindrance to church work. 

After mentioning the Japanese methods of flogging 
and prison tortures, which were still going on, Miss 
McCormick concludes: 

In defense of the practice, Japanese have pleaded that 
flogging was the mildest punishment recognized under 
the old Korean law and that in using it, they were merely 
following the Korean custom. But no matter what ex- 
cuse is offered, the fact that two young Korean students 
were recently beaten to death on half proved charges of 
disloyalty, will remain an eternal blot on Japan's admin- 
istration of Chosen. 

Frazier Hunt, the Far Eastern correspondent of the 
Chicago Tribune Foreign News Service, was in Korea 
during April, 1920. In his dispatch from Seoul, dated 
April 20, Mr. Hunt wrote: 

All Korea in Revolt 
The spirit of independence and revolution has per- 
meated into every class and section in all Korea. In- 
stead of lying down with the promise of reforms made 
by the new Japanese Governor-General, the fire is kept 
glowing under ashes of hate. 



310 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

First by police inquisitions and gendarme cruelties, the 
Japanese tried to crush the revolt, but that failing, they 
have tried to sidetrack it with promises of numerous re- 
forms. But there have been so many strings tied to most 
of the promises that they, too, have failed to check the 
steady growth of the independence movement. 

In the days that I have been here, I have gone about 
among the people sounding the depth of their determina- 
tion for independence. Again and again, I have been 
astonished to find how deeply this demand for freedom 
has sunk itself, and how universal is the willingness to 
make any sacrifice to help the Cause. 

Despite the 28,934 who were thrown into jail during 
the first four months of the revolution, and the 9,078 
who were flogged and thousands who were put through 
cruel third degrees by the police, the spirit of fight is far 
from broken. 

To-day I returned from a hundred-mile motorcycle 
trip into the country that I made in order to see with my 
own eyes some of the burned Christian churches and to 
feel with my own hands the pulse of the Korean farmers. 
It was an eighteen-hour ride over bumpy roads, but it 
was worth it, because I need quote no one now but these 
peasants themselves in order to show how real is this 
hate of Japan and how deep is the determination for 
freedom. 

It was difficult to get these simple, uneducated men of 
the soil to talk freely because of fear of the gendarmes 
and the heart-breaking spy system that always hangs over 
them like some black cloud. A fine upstanding mission- 
ary, who is giving all his life to helping these poor people, 
interpreted for me, but even with his assurances that we 
were Americans, it took more than a little coaxing before 
they would open their hearts to us. 

" The ruins — there is what is left of the church," one 
old fellow finally started out. "Twenty- four men of 



CONCLUSION 311 

this village, all Christians, were killed there last year by 
the soldiers. They were called to the church and shot. 
Then the soldiers set fire to the building." 

" And will you go on dreaming of freedom ? " I asked. 

" We are only ignorant peasants," he answered, " but 
we want our countiy for ourselves. We want our own 
lands." 

It was not much, but it was the spark that wins revo- 
lutions — the dream of wanting their own country for 
themselves. And millions of them are willing to fight for 
it. 

I recall a conversation I had with one of these militant 
ones on this same trip. He was a boy of fifteen, and we 
stopped him on the road near Seoul and started talking 
to him. He had finished the primary school and was now 
working in a l,ittle factory in the outskirts. We asked 
him all about his work and then swung onto the revo- 
lution. 

" Were you in the demonstrations and did you shout 
Mansei (independence) ? " I asked. 

" Of course," he answered. 

" And are you going to take part in more demonstra- 
tions ? " 

" Of course." 

" But you might be arrested and beaten," I suggested. 

" What does that matter ? " he answered simply. 

" But you might even be killed. You are young, and 
you have many things to live for. You might be killed." 

" Indeed, I would truly live forever, then," he an- 
swered. " I would be a hero of Korea and men would 
honour me forever." 

Pride in revolution ! Dreams of a hero's death ! 

Boys growing up singing the eternal songs of Inde- 
pendence ! 

So again let it be written that the fire of revolution 
bums in the heart of every Korean. In some it is only 



312 THE CASE OF KOREA 

a dull glow, but in others it is a iElaming spirit that can 
never be put out. 

Japan faces the impossible because there can be no 
answer to the call for independence — except independ- 
ence. 

The foregoing statements from American eye-wit- 
nesses will give the reader an idea of the present situa- 
tion in Korea. The question may be asked — what is 
to be the outcome of all this ? 

Japan's position in Korea is an impossible one. She 
is no more capable of governing an alien race now 
than she was in the days of her " Restoration," over 
half a century ago. The mind of her militarists can- 
not conceive any other force than that of soldier's 
rifle and policeman's sword in suppressing the orderly 
and non-resistant Independence Movement of the 
Koreans. The more force she uses the stronger be- 
comes the movement. Indeed, if it were not for the 
grim tragedy behind it all and for the storm of indig- 
nation that one is swept into at the stupidity and 
cruelty of Japan's history in Korea, one can almost 
waste a little pity on Japan. 

Before the thrilling miracle of a re-awakened, re- 
vived people, Japan stands completely bewildered and 
just a bit chastened. She does not know what to make 
of the sudden rising up of a crushed, broken race, just 
as she doesn't know what to make of a world that is 
no longer under the spell of the German military 
might-makes-right idea that she believed in and 
dreamed of conquering the East with. 

The civil party of Japan, led by the Hara adminis- 



CONCLUSION 313 

tration, tried their time-honoured tactics — ^bribery — of 
which the Japanese statesmen are past masters. But 
to their surprise and regret, they found out that the 
Korean leaders of to-day are made of different stuff 
from that of the old Korean Government officials that 
they used to deal with, and that all the wealth and 
glory of the world cannot bribe a single Korean na- 
tionalist. Thus, in November, 1919, Mr. W. H. Lyuh, 
a member of the Korean Provisional Government, and 
one of the leaders of the Korean Independence Move- 
ment, was called to Japan to confer with the Japanese 
authorities informally on the Korean situation. 

Mr. Lyuh went to Japan from China on the guaran- 
tee of the Japanese Government that his travel through 
Japan and Korea would not be interfered with by the 
Japanese authorities. He addressed a group of press 
men and officials at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, on No- 
vember 26, then he called on Mr, Koga, Chief of the 
Colonial Bureau; General Tanaka, Minister of War; 
Dr. Rentaro Midzuno, Civil Administrator of Korea; 
Mr. Tokonami, Home Minister; Mr. Noda, Minister 
of Communication, and other Cabinet Ministers. In 
his conferences with them, Mr. Lyuh outlined the aims 
and aspirations of the Korean people, and the advisa- 
bility on the part of Japan to restore the independence 
of Korea. In answer to a question as to whether 
Korea was strong enough to stand alone without Japa- 
nese protection, Mr. Lyuh said that Korea had no 
foes to fear ; China was extremely friendly with her, 
and the Koreans could enter into an understanding 
with the Japanese, the understanding to be of a kind 



314 THE CASE OF KOREA 

that would give mutual benefits towards the protection 
of each other. In the course of private conversation, 
Mr. Lyuh said that the Korean Provisional Govern- 
ment could make no compromise or understanding 
whereby the full independence of Korea was not recog- 
nized. " We have no arms," he said, " we are defense- 
less, but we believe in our Cause. And, while not re- 
sorting to force in any form or manner, we will not 
lose sight of the main principle on which we have 
founded the present Provisional Government — of the 
people, for the people, by the people. The power of 
faith in a good cause is great, and to this we pin our 
irust." ' 

The Japanese entertained him lavishly; they were 
extremely solicitous in looking after his wants. And 
there were hints that if the Koreans should change 
their cry from one of independence to one of self- 
government under Japanese rule, there were several 
good positions in Korea, from which Mr. Lyuh could 
make a selection. But all this had no effect upon this 
sturdy nationalist, and the scheme of the Japanese 
Government, to bring about conciliation in Korea by 
bribing Korean leaders, failed. As a consequence, the 
Japanese vehemently attacked their Government for 
having Mr. Lyuh in Japan. The native press, includ- 
ing The Yamato, The Chugwai, and The Asahi, ac- 
cused their Government as fostering sedition by " tem- 
porizing with rebels." A public meeting for the im- 
peachment of the present Government, because of the 

*A complete description o£ Lyuh's mission given in Japan 
Advertiser, November 27, 1919. 



CONCLUSION 315 

Lyuh affair, arranged by the Kaiko Monseki Domei- 
kai (Association for the Impeachment of the Govern- 
ment for Diplomatic Blunders), was held in Tokyo on 
December 18, at which speakers dubbed the present 
Government " a bad Cabinet " and described Lytih's 
visit in Tokyo as " the most outrageous incident in the 
annals of Japan." * 

The Japanese Government did not quite fulfill its 
promise with regard to Mr. Lyuh's trip, as he was not 
allowed to cross over to Korea from Japan. There- 
fore, he came back to China direct from Shimonoseki. 
The Japanese excuse in not permitting him to go 
through Korea was that they feared another demon- 
stration if he landed on Korean soil. In relating his 
visit to Japan, Mr. Lyuh said: 

The only hopeful sign I obtained in Japan was when 
Mr. Tanaka, Minister of War, admitted that Japan had 
made some mistakes in her Korean policy of the last ten 
years. That gave me courage. 

I asked him what was to be done, and he said the Japa- 
nese were trying to correct their former errors. I asked 
him how they sought to do this, but he either couldn't or 
wouldn't elucidate. I say that when he made the admis- 
sion I regarded it as hopeful. 

Any hope that might have been in my breast was dissi- 
pated a few moments later, when I ascertained that Japan 
is sending more troops to Korea, and that she is swelling 
her Korean police force from 25,000 to 50,000 men, sta- 
tioning them in every village, no matter how small. 

* Translation of press comments and the description of the 
meeting of the Kaiko Monseki Domei-kai given in the Japan 
Chronicle, December 25, 1919. 



316 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

Japan recognized that the presence of soldiers on police 
duty was resented by the Korean people. So she pre- 
tended to withdraw her soldiers, leaving only the police. 
Instead, she had her soldiers change from army to police 
uniforms, and is sending more troops to Korea. I am 
convinced that Japan is awake to the seriousness of the 
Korean situation. I am convinced, also, that Japan is 
worried.^ 

According to Japanese official statistics, 10,593 po- 
litical prisoners have been flogged, 631 have met death, 
5,156 have been imprisoned, and 11,831 are still await- 
ing their trial nearly two years after their arrest. 
These figures being " official " have the usual Japanese 
quality of inaccuracy in favour of themselves. It is a 
known fact that physicians, generally, whether in hos- 
pitals or in homes, are not permitted to give certificates 
of death showing that death resulted from flogging or 
other official punishment. For instance, Korean sta- 
tistics as to those killed and executed in Korea alone, 
not including those in Manchuria, is over 7,000. No 
doubt, just as great a discrepancy would appear in 
the balance of the Japanese statistical data. How- 
ever, even the " official " statistics of Japan tell a 
sad story that has in its making a volume of gruesome 
detail. The Japanese authorities are keenly watching 
the Independence Movement pending the trial and sen- 
tence of the leaders. If the movement subsides, the 
official vengeance of the Japanese Government will be 
wreaked upon such eminent leaders as Son Byung-hi, 
Kil Sun-chu and Choy Nam-sun. On the other hand, 
^From the China Press, December 12, 1919. 



CONCLUSION 317 

if the movement Is kept up, these leaders will be given 
light sentences or released entirely as a sop to the 
people. 

To the leaders themselves it is immaterial what the 
Japanese may do. They led the movement, knowing 
the horrible fate that was before them. They were 
not unaware of the Japanese prison tortures and death 
that their predecessors encountered. With magnifi- 
cent courage and unflinching heroism, they blazed the 
trail and organized the movement, so that the work 
may be carried on even after their death. The rank 
and file feel the highest honour that they can pay to 
their leaders, both de.ad and living, is to carry out their 
wish and continue the work that they have so nobly 
started on the first day of March, 1919. Thus the In- 
dependence Movement is stronger to-day than it was in 
the spring of 1919. On the first anniversary of the 
Korean Declaration of Independence, there was a uni- 
versal celebration of the occasion among the Koreans 
throughout the world. The observance was not 
marked by firecrackers and high-sounding speech, but 
signalized by deep consecration of their lives to the 
Cause of the freedom of their fatherland. 

In Korea the police and the soldiers took due pre- 
caution to prevent all possible demonstrations. As a 
consequence, open meetings were not held, but the peo- 
ple observed the occasion in their homes as the " Foun- 
dation Day of Korean Liberty." But to the more im- 
pulsive students, gleaming bayonets had little meaning, 
for even In the midst of the cordon of soldiers, an open 
demonstration was held In Pal Jai College, Seoul. 



318 THE CASE OF KOEEA^ 

Consequently the school was closed. In Japan the 
Koreans had their celebration meeting despite the vigi- 
lance of the police with the result that fifty Korean 
students in Tokyo were jailed. 

The Japanese Government seems to be determined 
to stamp out the Korean independence movement 
everywhere. The Korean residents in Manchuria, 
like their countrymen all over the world, naturally 
sympathized with the movement. The Japanese Gov- 
ernment looked upon these Korean settlements under 
Chinese jurisdiction as a source of trouble in the 
future. They must be extirpated. The Tokyo Gov- 
ernment, in the fall of 1920, decided on the drastic 
policy of wiping out the Korean communities in 
Manchuria in order to nip in the bud the Korean inde- 
pendence movement in Chinese territory. Against the 
strongest protest of the Chinese Government, more 
than 15,000 soldiers were sent under orders to 
Chientao (Kando in Korean), Manchuria, to stamp 
out the incipient movement for Korean f reedom."* The 
atrocities committed by these soldiers equal in severity 
and horror some of the worst reported cases in Korea 
during the early part of the independence movement.^ 
The soldiers not only killed the people, but system- 
atically burned the villages, devastated the fields and 
destroyed the grain supply. Figures of the destruction 

*The Japanese Government admitted sending only 5,000 sol- 
diers. 

' For full description, see " Korean Massacres Testified by 
British Missionaries," China Press (Shanghai), December 8, 
X920. 



CONCLUSION 319 

and massacre in Chientao, carried on by Japanese sol- 
diers during October and November, 1930, are now 
available. They show that 3,128 inhabitants were 
murdered; 2,404 homes, 31 schools, 10 churches, and 
818,620 bushels of grain were burned.* 

The latest report coming from the Far East, as this 
last chapter is being written, is the Associated Press 
dispatch of February 4, 1921, which announces the 
decision of the Japanese Government to reenforce its 
garrisons in Korea with another division. This means 
continued suppression and more atrocities. 

What is to be the outcome of all this, one may ask. 
Will Japan ever be able to solve the problem ? " Every 
day the solution is becoming more difficult," says Fra- 
zier Hunt, in his dispatch from Seoul. " By imme- 
diate and dramatic reforms and generous gifts of 
semi-independence, she might sidetrack this Korean 
Independence revolution, but one is wasting time even 
to think about this because present-day Japan doesn't 
talk this language of democracy and international jus- 
tice and fair play. Japan's promised reforms are not 
even keeping pace with the revolutionary movement." 

Even though all these reforms were granted to 
Korea, and Japan were to have no more control over 
Korea than England has over Canada or Australia, the 
Koreans would not be satisfied. They evidently 
intend to continue the revolution until their coun- 
try is completely free from Japanese domina- 
tion. They are roughly awakened, under the 
cruel blows of their alien masters, to a sense of iia- 
*New York Tribune, February 7, 1921. 



320 THE CASE OF KOEEA 

tional consciousness and racial solidarity. This yearn- 
ing for political freedom is coupled with the sudden 
setting off of all the accumulated hate, cruelty, tyranny 
and injustice of Japanese domination that have been 
practised during the ten years since the annexation. It 
must be remembered that even the adroit Japan cannot 
hammer the swords into welcome plowshares after 
once the sword has been stained with blood. Her task 
in Korea is a hopeless one. So long as there is a Ko- 
rean left, there will be the cry for independence. Will 
Japan continue to use bayonets to crush the movement? 
Will this circle of sulleji and passive resistance on the 
part of an unarmed and defenseless people, on the one 
hand, and the organized military suppression, on the 
other, be carried to the point of racial extinction of the 
Korean people? Can Japan succeed in annihilating 
the Korean race— 20,000,000 people? 

The Korean cause may not be so hopeless as It seems 
to a casual observer. Nothing in human affairs is im- 
possible in this pregnant century. Ten years ago, no 
one ever dreamed that Poland would gain her inde- 
pendence or that the Croats and Slovenes would attain 
their national aspirations in the near future. Japan's 
present possession of superior military strength is no 
lasting reason that she will always hold her dominant 
position in Asia. The Far Eastern question is an un- 
settled one, and Japan is playing a lone hand. The 
time may come when the civilized world will fully 
awaken to Japanese methods In Asia and demand an 
accounting and settlement on the basis of justice and 
fair play. 



CONCLUSION 321 

Whatever may happen in the political arena of the 
Far East, the Korean people, though disarmed and de- 
fenseless, will continue the struggle for life and liberty 
with undaunted courage and unswerving optimism 
which form a peculiar trait of their national character ; 
they will continue 

" To hope, till hope creates 
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates/*^ 



APPENDICES 



THE TRIAL OF VISCOUNT MIURA 

The following is the full text of the findings of the 
Japanese Court of Preliminary Inquiries, at the trial of 
Viscount Miura and his associates for the murder of the 
Queen of Korea: ' 

Okamoto Ryunosuke, born the 8th month of the 5th 
year of Kaei (1852), Adviser to the Korean Departments 
of War and of the Household, shizoku of Usu, Saiga 
Mura, Umibe Gun, Wakayama Ken. 

Miura Goro, Viscount, Sho Sammi, first-class Order, 
lyieutenant-General (first reserve), born 11th month 
3rd year Kokwa (1846), kwazoku of Nakotomisaka 
Cho, Koishikawa ku, Tokyo Shi, Tokyo Fu. 

Sugimura Fukashi, Sho Rokui, First Secretary of 
Legation, born 1st month 1st year Kaei (1848), heimin 
of Suga Cho, Yotsuyaku, Tokyo Shi, Tokyo Fu, and 
forty-five others. 

Having, in compliance with the request of the Public Proc- 
urator, conducted preliminary examinations in the case of mur- 
der and sedition brought against the above-mentioned Okamoto 
Ryunosuke and forty-seven others, and that of wilful homicide 
brought against the afore-mentioned Hirayama Iwawo, we find 
as follows: 

The accused, Miura Goro, assumed his official duties as His 
Imperial Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary at Seoul on the ist September, the 28th year of 
Meiji (1895). According to his observations, things in Korea 

322 



APPENDICES 323 

were tending in a wrong direction. The Court (Royal House of 
Korea) was daily growing more and more arbitrary, and at- 
tempting wanton interference with the conduct of State affairs. 
Disorder and confusion were in this way introduced into the 
system of administration that had just been reorganized under 
the guidance and advice of the Imperial Government (Japan). 
The Court went so far in turning its back on Japan that a 
project was mooted for disbanding the Kunrentai troops, drilled 
by Japanese officers, and punishing their officers. Moreover, a 
report came to the knowledge of the said Miura that the Court 
had under contemplation a scheme for usurping all political 
power by degrading some and killing others of the Cabinet 
Ministers suspected of devotion to the cause of progress and 
independence. Under these circumstances, he was greatly per- 
turbed, inasmuch as he thought that the attitude assumed by the 
Court not only showed remarkable ingratitude towards this 
country (Japan) which had spent labour and money for the sake 
of Korea, but was also calculated to thwart the work of internal 
reform and jeopardize the independence of the Kingdom. The 
policy pursued by the Court was consequently considered to be 
injurious to Korea, as well as prejudicial, in no small degree, to 
the interests of this country. The accused felt it to be of 
urgent importance to apply an effective remedy to this state of 
things, so as on the one hand to secure the independence of the 
Korean Kingdom, and, on the other, to maintain the prestige of 
this Empire in that country. While thoughts like these agitated 
his mind, he was secretly approached by the Tai Won Kun with 
a request for assistance, the Prince being indignant at the un- 
toward turn that events were taking, and having determined to 
undertake the reform of the Court and thus discharge his duty 
of advising the King. The accused then held at the Legation a 
conference with Sugimura Fukashi and Okamoto Ryunosuke, 
on the 3rd October last. The decision arrived at on that occa- 
sion was that assistance should be rendered to the Tai Won 
Kun's entry into the palace by making use of the Kunrentai, 
who, being hated by the Court, felt themselves in danger, 
and of the young men who deeply lamented the course of 
events, and also by causing the Japanese troops stationed in 
Seoul to offer their support to the enterprise. It was further 
resolved that this opportunity should be availed of for taking 
the life of the Queen, who exercised overwhelming influ- 
ence in the Court. They at the same time thought it neces- 



324 APPENDICES 

sary to provide against the possible danger of the Tai Won 
Kun's interfering with the conduct of State affairs in the 
future — an interference that might prove of a more evil char- 
acter than that which it was now sought to overturn. To 
this end, a document containing pledges required of the Tai 
Won Kun on four points was drawn by Sugimura Fukashi. 
The document was carried to the country residence of the 
Tai Won Kun at Kong-tok-ri on the 15th of the month by 
Okamoto Ryunosuke, the latter being on intimate terms with 
His Highness. After informing the Tai Won Kun that the 
turn of events demanded His Highness's intervention once 
more, Okamoto presented the note to the Prince, saying 
that it embodied what Minister Miura expected from him. 
The Tai Won Kun, together with his son and grandson, 
gladly assented to the conditions proposed and also wrote a 
letter guaranteeing his good faith. Miura Goro and others 
decided to carry out the concerted plan by the middle of the 
month. Fearing lest Okamoto's visit to Kong-tok-ri (the Tai 
Won Kun's residence) should excite suspicion and lead to 
the exposure of their plan, it was given out that he had pro- 
ceeded thither simply for the purpose of taking leave of the 
Prince before departing from home, and to impart an appear- 
ance of probability to this report it was decided that Oka- 
moto should leave Seoul for Ninsen (Inchhon) and he took 
his departure from the capital on the 6th. On the following 
day. An Keiju, the Korean Minister of State for War, visited 
the Japanese Legation by order of the Court. Referring to 
the projected disbanding of the Kunrentai troops, he asked 
the Japanese Minister's views on the subject. It was now 
evident that the moment had arrived, and that no more delay 
should be made. Miura Goro and Sugimura Fukashi conse- 
quently determined to carry out the plot on the night of that 
very day. On the one hand a telegram was sent to Okamoto 
requesting him to come back to Seoul at once, and on the 
other they delivered to Horiguchi Kumaichi a paper contain- 
ing a detailed programme concerning the entry of the Tai 
Won Kun into the palace, and caused him to meet Okamoto 
at Yong-san so that they might proceed to enter the palace. 
Miura Goro further issued instructions to Umayabara Muhon, 
Commander of the Japanese Battalion in Seoul, ordering him 
to facilitate the Tai Won Kun's entry into the palace by 
directing the disposition of the Kunrentai troops, and by 



APPENDICES 325 

calling out the Imperial force for their support. Miura also 
summoned the accused, Adachi Kenzo and Kunitomo Shi- 
geakira, and requested them to collect their friends, meeting 
Okamoto at Yong-san, and act as the Tai Won Kun's body- 
guard on the occasion of His Highness's entrance into the 
palace. Miura told them that on the success of the enter- 
prise depended the eradication of the evils that had done so 
much mischief in the Kingdom for the past twenty years, 
and instigated them to dispatch the Queen when they entered 
the palace. Miura ordered the accused, Ogiwara Hidejiro, to 
proceed to Yong-san, at the head of the police force under 
him, and after consultation with Okamoto to take such step^ 
as might be necessary to expedite the Tai Won Kun's entry 
into the palace. 

The accused, Sugimura Fukashi, summoned Suzuki Shige- 
moto and Asayama Kenzo to the Legation, and after acquaint- 
ing them with the projected enterprise, directed the former to 
send the accused, Suzuki Junken, to Yong-san to act as inter- 
preter, and the latter to carry the news to a Korean named 
Li Shukwei, who was known to be a warm advocate of the 
Tai Won Kun's return to the palace. Sugimura further drew 
up a manifesto explaining the reason of the Tai Won Kun's 
entry into the palace, and charged Ogiwara Hidejiro to de- 
liver it to Horiguchi Kumaichi. 

The accused, Horiguchi Kumaichi, at once departed for 
Yong-san on horseback. Ogiwara Hidejiro issued orders to 
the policemen that were off duty to put on civilian dress, 
provide themselves with swords and proceed to Yong-san. 
Ogiwara himself also went to the same place. 

Thither also repaired by his order the accused, Watanabe 
Takajiro, Nariai Kishiro, Oda Yoshimitsu, Kiwaki Sukunorin, 
and Sakai Masataro. 

The accused, Yokowo Yutaro, joined the party at Yong- 
san. Asayama Kenzo saw Li Shukwei, and informed him of 
the projected enterprise against the palace at night. Having 
ascertained that Li had then collected a few other Koreans 
and proceeded towards Kong-tok-ri, Asayama at once left for 
Yong-san. Sukuzi Shigemoto went to Yong-san in company 
with Sukuzi Junken. The accused, Adachi Kenzo and Kuni- 
tomo Shigeakira, at the instigation of Miura, decided to mur- 
der the Queen, and took steps for collecting accomplices. 
The accused, Hirayama Iwabiko, Sassa Masayuki, Matsu- 



326 APPENDICES 

mura Tatsuki, Sasaki Tadasu, Ushijima Hidewo, Kobaya- 
kawa Hidewo, Miyazumi Yuki, Sato Keita, Sawamura Masao, 
Katano Takewo, Fuji Masashira, Hirata Shizen, Kikuchi 
Kenjo, Yoshida Tomokichi, Nakamura Takewo, Namba Haru- 
kichi, Terasaki Taikichi, lyuri Kakichi, Tanaka Kendo, Ku- 
mabe Yonekichi, Tsukinari Taru, Yamada Ressei, Sase Kuma- 
tetsu, and Shibaya Kotoji, responded to the call of Adachi 
Kenzo and Kunitomo Shigeakira by Miura's order to act as 
bodyguard to the Tai Won Kun on the occasion of his entry 
to the palace. Hirayama Iwahiko and more than ten others 
were directed by Adachi Kenzo, Kunitomo Shigeakira, and 
others to do away with the Queen, and they resolved to 
follow the advice. The others, who were not admitted into 
this secret but who joined the party from mere curiosity, 
also carried weapons. With the exception of Kunitomo 
Shigeakira, Tsukinari Taru, and two others, all the accused 
mentioned above went to Yong-san in company with Adachi 
Kenzo. 

The accused, Okamoto Ryunosuke, on receipt of a telegram 
stating that time was urgent, at once left Ninsen for Seoul. 
Being informed on his way, about midnight, that Horiguchi 
Kumaichi was waiting for him at Mapho, he proceeded 
thither and met the persons assembled there. There he re- 
ceived from Horiguchi Kumaichi a letter from Miura Goro, 
the draft manifesto already alluded to, and other documents. 
After he had consulted with two or three others about the 
method of effecting an entry into the palace, the whole party 
started for Kong-tok-ri, with Okamoto as their leader. At about 
3 A. M. on the 8th they left Kong-tok-ri, and escorting the Tai 
Won Kun's palanquin, together with Li Shukwei and other 
Koreans. When on the point of departure, Okamoto assem- 
bled the whole party outside the front gate of the Prince's 
residence, declaring that on entering the palace the " fox " 
should be dealt with according as exigency might require, 
the obvious purport of this declaration being to instigate his 
followers to murder Her Majesty the Queen. As the result 
of this declaration Sakai Masataro and a few others, who had 
not yet been initiated into the secret, resolved to act in accord- 
ance with the suggestion. Then slowly proceeding towards 
Seoul, the party met the Kunrentai troops outside the west 
gate of the capital, where they waited some time for the 
arrival of the Japanese troops. 



APPENDICES 327 

With the Kunrentai as vanguard, the party then proceeded 
towards the palace at a more rapid rate. On the way they 
were joined by Kunitomo Shigeakira, Tsukinari Taru, Ya- 
mada Ressei, Sase Kumatetsu, and Shibuya Katoji. The ac- 
cused, Hasumoto, Yasumaru, and Oura Shigehiko, also joined 
the party, having been requested by Umagabara Muhon to 
accompany as interpreters the military officers charged with 
the supervision of the Kunrentai troops. About dawn the 
whole party entered the palace through the Kwang-hwa Gate, 
and at once proceeded to the inner chambers. 

Notwithstanding these facts, there is no sufficient evidence 
to prove that any of the accused actually committed the 
crime originally meditated by them. Neither is there suffi- ? 
cient evidence to establish the <;harge that Hirayarna Iwahiko > 
killed Li Koshoku, the Korean Minister of the Household, \ 
in front of the Kon-Chong palace. \ 

As to the accused, Shiba Shiro, Osaki Masakichi, Yoshida 
Hanji, Mayeda Shunzo; Hirayama Katsukuma, and Hiraishi 
Yoshitaro, there is not sufficient evidence to show that they 
were in any way connected with the affair. 

For these reasons the accused, each and all, are hereby dis- 
charged in accordance with the provisions of article 165 of the 
Code of Criminal Procedure. The accused, Miura Goro, 
Sugimura Fukashi, Okamoto Ryunosuke, Adachi Kenzo, 
Kunitomo Shigeakira, Terasaki Taikichi, Hirayama Iwabiko, 
Nakamura Takewo, Fuji Masashira, lyuri Kakichi, Kiwaki 
Sukenori, and Sokoi Masutaro, are hereby released from con- 
finement. The documents and other articles seized in con- 
nection with this case are restored to their respective owners. 

Given at the Hiroshima Local Court by 

Yoshida Yoshihidb, 
Judge of Preliminary Enquiry; 

Tamura Yoshiharu, 
Clerk of the Court. 
Dated, 20th day of the ist month of 29th year of Meiji. 

This copy has been taken from the original text. — Clerk of the 
Local Court of Hiroshima. 



328 APPENDICES 



II 

(a) TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES 
AND KOREA 

Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation 

Signed at Yin-Chuen, May 22, 1882. 

Ratification advised by the United States Senate, 
January 9, 1883. 

Ratified by the President of the United States, Febru- 
ary 13, 1883. 

Ratifications exchanged at Seoul, May 19, 1883. 

Proclaimed, June 4, 1883. 

TRANSCRIPT OF TREATY 

A Proclamation 

By the President of the United States of America. 

Whereas a treaty of peace and amity and commerce 
and navigation between the United States of America 
and the Kingdom of Korea or Chosen was concluded on 
the twenty-second day of May, one thousand eight hun- 
dred and eighty-two, the original of which treaty being 
in the English and Chinese languages is word for word 
as follows: 

Treaty of Amity and Commerce 

The United States of America and the Kingdom of 
Chosen, being sincerely desirous of establishing perma- 
nent relations of amity and friendship between their re- 
spective peoples, have to this end appointed, that is to 
say : The President of the United States, R. W. Shuf eldt, 
Commodore, U. S. Navy, as his Commissioner Plenipo- 
tentiary; and His Majesty, the King of Chosen, Shin 
Chen, President of the Royal Cabinet, Chin Hong-chi, 



APPENDICES 329 

Member of the Royal Cabinet, as his Commissioners 
Plenipotentiary; who having reciprocally examined their 
respective full powers, which have been found to be in 
due form, have agreed upon the several following Ar- 
ticles : 

Article I 

There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between 
the President of the United States and the King of 
Chosen and the citizens and subjects of their respective 
Governments. 

If other Powers deal unjustly or oppressively with 
either Government, the other will exert their good offices, 
on being informed of the case, to bring about an amicable 
arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings. 

Article II 

After the conclusion of this treaty of amity and com- 
merce, the high contracting Powers may each appoint 
diplomatic representatives to reside at the Court of the 
other, and may each appoint consular representatives at 
the ports of the other which are open to foreign com- 
merce, at their own convenience. 

These officials shall have relations with the correspond- 
ing local authorities of equal rank upon a basis of mutual 
equality. 

The Diplomatic and Consular representatives of the 
two Governments shall receive mutually all the privileges, 
rights, and immunities, without discrimination, which are 
accorded to the same classes of representatives from the 
most favoured nation. 

Consuls shall exercise their functions only on receipt 
of an exequatur from the Government to which they are 
accredited. Consular authorities shall be bona fide offi- 
cials. No merchants shall be permitted to exercise the 
duties of the office, nor shall consular officers be allowed 
to engage in trade. At ports to which no consular rep- 



330 APPENDICES 

resentatives have been appointed, the consuls of other 
Powers may be invited to act, provided that no merchant 
shall be allowed to assume consular functions, or the pro- 
visions of this treaty may, in such cases, be enforced by 
the local authorities. 

If consular representatives of the United States in 
Chosen conduct their business in an improper manner, 
their exequatur may be revoked, subject to the approval, 
previously obtained, of the diplomatic representative of 
the United States. 

Article III 

Whenever United States vessels, either because of 
stress of weather or by want of fuel or provisions, can- 
not reach the nearest open port in Chosen, they may enter 
any port or harbour either to take refuge therein or to get 
supplies of wood, coal, and other necessaries, or to make 
repairs, the expenses incurred thereby being defrayed by 
the ship's master. In such event, the officers and people 
of the locality shall display their sympathy by rendering 
full assistance, and their liberality by furnishing the ne- 
cessities required. 

If a United States vessel carries on a clandestine trade 
at a port not open to foreign commerce, such vessel, with 
her cargo, shall be seized and confiscated. 

If a United States vessel be wrecked on the coast of 
Chosen, the local authorities, on being informed of the 
occurrence, shall immediately render assistance to the 
crew, provide for their present necessities, and take the 
measures necessary for the salvage of the ship and the 
preservation of her cargo. They shall also bring the 
matter to the knowledge of the nearest consular repre- 
sentative of the United States, in order that steps may be 
taken to send the crew home and to save the ship and 
cargo. The necessary expenses shall be defrayed either 
by the ship's master or by the United States. 



APPENDICES 331 

Article IV 
^ All citizens of the United States of America in Chosen, 
peaceably attending to their own affairs, shall receive and 
enjoy for themselves and everything appertaining to them 
the protection of the local authorities of the Government 
of Chosen, who shall defend them from all insult and 
injury of any sort. If their dwellings or property be 
threatened or attacked by mobs, incendiaries, or other 
violent or lawless persons, the local officers, on requisition 
of the Consul, shall immediately dispatch a military force 
to disperse the rioters, apprehend the guilty individuals, 
and punish them with the utmost rigour of the law. 

Subjects of Chosen, guilty of any criminal act towards 
citizens of the United States, shall be punished by the 
authorities of Chosen according to the laws of Chosen; 
and citizens of the United States, either on shore or in 
any merchant vessel, v/ho may insult, trouble, or wound 
the persons, or injure the property of the people of. 
Chosen, shall be arrested and punished only by the Consul 
or other public functionary of the United States thereto 
authorized, according to the laws of the United States. 

When controversies arise in the Kingdom of Chosen, 
between citizens of the United States and subjects of His 
Majesty, which need to be examined and decided by the 
public officers of the two nations, it is agreed between 
the two governments of the United States and Chosen 
that such cases shall be tried by the proper official of the 
nationality of the defendant, according to the laws of that 
nation. 

The properly authorized official of the plaintiff's na- 
tionality shall be freely permitted to attend the trial, and 
shall be treated with the courtesy due his position. He 
shall be granted all proper facilities for watching the pro- 
ceedings in the interests of justice. If he so desires, he 
shall have the right to present, to examine, and to cross- 
examine witnesses. If he is dissatisfied with the pro- 



332 APPENDICES 

ceedings, he shall be pernlitted to protest against them in 
detail. 

It is, however, mutually agreed and understood be- 
tween the high contracting Powers, that whenever the 
King of Chosen shall have so far modified and reformed 
the statutes and judicial procedure of his kingdom that, in 
the judgment of the United States, they conform to the 
laws and course of justice in the United States, the right 
of ex-territorial jurisdiction over United States citizens 
in Chosen shall be abandoned, and thereafter United 
State citizens, when within the limits of the Kingdom of 
Chosen, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the native 
authorities. 

Article V 

Merchants and merchant vessels of Chosen visiting the 
United States for purposes of traffic, shall pay duties and 
tonnage dues and all fees according to the customs regu- 
lation of the United States, but no higher or other rates 
of duties and tonnage dues shall be exacted of them than 
are levied upon citizens of the United States or upon 
citizens or subjects of the most favoured nation. 

Merchants and merchant vessels of the United States 
visiting Chosen for purposes of traffic shall pay duties 
upon all merchandise imported and exported. The au- 
thority to levy duties is of right vested in the Govern- 
ment of Chosen. The tariff of duties upon exports and 
imports, together with the customs regulations for the 
prevention of smuggling and other irregularities, will be 
fixed by the authorities of Chosen and communicated to 
the proper officials of the United States, to be by the 
latter notified to their citizens and duly observed. 

It is, however, agreed in the first instance, as a general 
measure, that the tariff upon such imports as are articles 
of daily use shall not exceed an ad valorem duty of ten 
per centum ; that the tariff upon such imports as are lux- 
uries, as, for instance, foreign wines, foreign tobacco, 



APPEKDICES 333 

clocks and watches, shall not exceed an ad valorem duty 
of thirty per centum; and that native produce exported 
shall pay a duty not to exceed five per centum ad valorem. 
And it is further agreed that the duty upon foreign im- 
ports shall be paid once for all at the port of entry, and 
that no other dues, duties, fees, taxes, or charges of any 
sort shall be levied upon such imports either in the inte- 
rior of Chosen or at the ports. 

United States merchant vessels entering the ports of 
Chosen shall pay tonnage dues at the rate of five mace 
per ton, payable once in three months on each vessel, ac- 
cording to the Chinese calendar. 

Article VI 

Subjects of Chosen who may visit the United States 
shall be permitted to reside and to rent premises, purchase 
land, or to construct residences or warehouses, in all 
parts of the country. They shall be freely permitted to 
pursue their various callings and avocations, and to traffic 
in all merchandise, raw and manufactured, that is not 
declared contraband by law. 

Citizens of the United States who may resort to the 
ports of Chosen which are open to foreign commerce, 
shall be permitted to reside at such open ports within the 
limits of the concessions, and to lease buildings or land 
or to construct residences or warehouses therein. They 
shall be freely permitted to pursue their various callings 
and avocations within the limits of the ports, and to 
traffic in all merchandise, raw and manufactured, that is 
not declared contraband by law. 

No coercion or intimidation In the acquisition of land 
or buildings shall be permitted, and the land rent as fixed 
by the authorities of Chosen shall be paid. And it is 
expressly agreed that lands so acquired in the open ports 
of Chosen still remain an integral part of the kingdom, 
and that all rights of jurisdiction over persons and prop- 



334 APPElirDICES 

erty within such areas remain vested in the authorities of 
Chosen, except in so far as such rights have been ex- 
pressly rehnquished by this treaty 

American citizens are not permitted either to transport 
foreign imports to the interior for sale or to proceed 
thither to purchase native produce. Nor are they per- 
mitted to transport native produce from one open port to 
another open port. 

Violations of this rule will subject such merchandise to 
confiscation, and the merchant offending will be handed 
over to the consular authorities to be dealt with. 

'Article VII 
The Governments of the United States and of Chosen 
mutually agree and undertake that subjects of Chosen 
shall not be permitted to import opium into any of the 
ports of the United States, and citizens of the United 
States shall not be permitted to import opium into any of 
the open ports of Chosen, to transport it from one open 
port to another open port or to traffic in it in Chosen. 
This absolute prohibition, which extends to vessels owned 
by the citizens or subjects of either Power, to foreign 
vessels employed by them, and to vessels owned by the 
citizens or subjects of either Power and employed by 
other persons for the transportation of opium, shall be 
enforced by appropriate legislation on the part of the 
United States and of Chosen, and offenders against it 
shall be severely punished. 

Article VIII 
Whenever the Government of Chosen shall have rea- 
son to apprehend a scarcity of food within the limits of 
the kingdom, His Majesty may, by decree, temporarily 
prohibit the export of all breadstuffs, and such decree 
shall be binding on all citizens of the United States in 
Chosen, upon due notice having been given them by the 



APPENDICES 335 

authorities o£ Chosen through the proper officers of the 
United States ; but it is to be understood that the exporta- 
tion of rice and breadstuffs of every description is pro- 
hibited from the open port of Yin-chuen. 

Chosen having of old prohibited the exportation of red 
ginseng, if citizens of the United States clandestinely pur- 
chase it for export, it shall be confiscated, and the of- 
fenders punished. 

Article IX 
The purchase of cannon, small arms, swords, gun- 
powder, shot, and all munitions of war is permitted only 
to officials of the Government of Chosen, and they may 
be imported by citizens of the United States only under 
written permit from the authorities of Chosen. If these 
articles are clandestinely imported, they shall be confis- 
cated, and the offending party shall be punished. 

Article X 

The officers and people of either nation residing in the 
other shall have the right to employ natives for all kinds 
of lawful work. 

Should, however, subjects of Chosen, guilty of viola- 
tion of the laws of the kingdom, or against whom any 
action has been brought, conceal themselves in the resi- 
dences or warehouses of United States citizens or on 
board United States merchant vessels, the Consular au- 
thorities of the United States, on being notified of the 
fact by the local authorities, will either permit the latter 
to dispatch constables to make the arrests or the persons 
will be arrested by the Consular authorities and handed 
over to the local constables. 

Officials or citizens of the United States shall not har- 
bour such persons. 

Article XI 
Students of either nationality who may proceed to the 
country of the other, in order to study the language, lit- 



336 APPENDICES 

erature, laws, or arts, shall be given all possible protec- 
tion and assistance, in evidence of cordial good- will. 

Article XII 
This being the first treaty negotiated by Chosen, and 
hence being general and incomplete in its provisions, 
shall, in the first instance, be put into operation in all 
things stipulated herein. As to stipulations not contained 
herein, after an interval of five years, when the officers 
and people of the two Powers shall have become more 
familiar with each other's language, a further negotiation 
of commercial provisions and regulations in detail, in con- 
formity with international law and without unequal dis- 
criminations on either part, shall be had. 

Article XIII 

This Treaty and future official correspondence between 
the two contracting Governments shall be made, on the 
part of Chosen, in the Chinese language. 

The United States shall either use the Chinese lan- 
guage, or if English be used, it shall be accompanied with 
a Chinese version, in order to avoid misunderstanding. 

Article XIV 
The high contracting Powers hereby agree that should 
at any time the King of Chosen grant to any nation, or to 
the merchants or citizens of any nation, any right, privi- 
lege, or favour, connected either with navigation, com- 
merce, political or other intercourse, which is not con- 
ferred by this treaty, such right, privilege, and favour 
shall freely inure to the benefit of the United States, its 
public officers, merchants, and citizens; provided always 
that whenever such right, privilege, or favour is accom- 
panied by any condition or equivalent concession granted 
by the other nation interested, the United States, its of- 
ficers and people, shall only be entitled to the benefit of 
such right, privilege, or favour upon complying with the 
conditions or concessions connected therewith. 



APPENDICES 337 

In faith whereof, the respective Commissioners Pleni- 
potentiary have signed and sealed the foregoing at Yin- 
chuen, in English and Chinese, being three originals of 
each text, of even tenor and date, the ratifications which 
shall be exchanged at Yin-chuen within one year from 
the date of its execution, and immediately thereafter this 
treaty shall be in all its provisions publicly proclaimed 
and made known by both Governments in their respective 
countries, in order that it may be obeyed by their citizens 
and subjects respectively. 

Chosen, May the 22nd, A. D. 1882. 

(L. S.) (Signed) R. W. Shufeldt, 

Commodore, U. S. N., Envoy of the 
U. S. to Chosen. 

(L. S ) (Signed) Shin Chen 1 j^ Chinese) 

(L. S.) (Signed) Chin Hong-Chi f ^ 

Members of the Royal Cabinet of Chosen. 

And Whereas, the Senate of the United States of 
America by their resolution of the ninth of January, one 
thousand eight hundred and eighty-three (two-thirds of 
the Senators present concurring), did advise and consent 
to the ratification of said treaty subject to the condition 
following, viz : 

Resolved, That it is the understanding of the Senate 
in agreeing to the foregoing resolution, that the clause, 
" Nor are they permitted to transport native produce 
from one open port to another open port," in Article VI 
of said treaty, is not intended to prohibit and does not 
prohibit American ships from going from one open port 
to another open port in Korea or Chosen to receive Ko- 
rean cargo for exportation, or to discharge foreign cargo. 

And Whereas, said treaty has been duly ratified on 
both parts, subject to said condition, and the respective 
ratifications thereof exchanged. 



338 APPENDICES 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Chester A. Arthur, 
President of the United States of America, have caused 
the said convention to be made public, to the end that the 
same, and every clause and article thereof, may be ob- 
served and fulfilled with good faith by the United States 
and the citizens thereof. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and 
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this Fourth day of 
June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and eighty-three and of the Independence of the 
United States of America the one hundredth and seventh. 

Chester A. Arthur. 
By the President. 

Fredk. T. Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary of State. 

(b) LIST OF TREATIES WITH OTHER 
POWERS' 
Treaties of Amity and Commerce were made by Korea 
with various other countries in substantially the same 
language as the Treaty with the United States. Being 
to all intents and purposes identical, they are not quoted 
in full, but are listed below : 

Austria-Hungary June 23, 1892 

Belgium March 23, 1901 

China September 1 1, 1899 

Denmark July 15, 1902 

France June 4, 1886 

Germany November 26, 1883 

Great Britain November 26, 1883 

Italy , June 26, 1884 

Japan February 26, 1876 

Russia July 7, 1884 

*For the full text of the foregoing Treaties see the author's 
Korean Treaties (New York, 1919). 



APPENDICES 339 

(c) JAPAN'S GUARANTEE OF KOREAN IN- 
DEPENDENCE 

Excerpts from Treaties Made by Japan Recognizing 
or Asserting Independence of Korea : 

February 26, j8y6 — Between Korea and Japan. 

Chosen (Korea) being an independent State enjoys the 
same sovereign rights as does Japan. 

July 14, i8p4 — Between Korea and Japan. 

The object of the alliance is to maintain the Independ- 
ence of Korea on a firm footing. . . . 
Korea will undertake to give every possible facility to 
Japanese soldiers regarding their movement and supply 
of provisions. This Treaty shall cease and determine at 
the conclusion of a Treaty of Peace with China. 

April 20, iSp^ — Between China and Japan (Shimonoseki 
Treaty). 
China recognizes definitely the full and complete inde- 
pendence and autonomy of Korea. 

April 25, i8g8 — Between Russia and Japan, 

The Imperial Governments of Russia and Japan recog- 
nize definitely the Sovereignty and entire independence of 
Korea, and pledge themselves mutually to abstain from 
all direct interference in the internal affairs of that coun- 
try. 

January 30, IQ02 — First Anglo- Japanese Alliance. 

The High Contracting Parties, having mutually recog- 
nized the independence of China and Korea, declare 
themselves to be entirely uninfluenced by any aggressive 
tendencies in either country. 

February 2^, ip04 — Between Korea and Japan. 

The Imperial Government of Japan definitely guarantees 
the Independence and territorial integrity of the Korean 
Empire. 



340 APPENDICES 

III* 

BALANCE SHEET BETWEEN KOREA AND 

JAPAN 

November //, 1905, fo December 51, 1917. 

Extraordinary Receipts by Japan — 

Increase in Korea's national debt $ 46,475,158.50 

Excess taxes collected by Japan in Korea 

over normal tax 50,098,877.50 

Dividends due Korea on stock in the Oriental 

Development Company 782,925.00 

One-half profit due Korea from the Yalu and 

Tumen River lumber undertaking 1,163,140.50 

Dividends due Korea from operation of rail- 
roads 1,967,505.50 

Dividends due from operation of tramways or 

narrow gauge railroads 32,000.00 

Proceeds from conduct of ginseng traffic 2,213,969.50 

Proceeds from operation of coal mines 578,516.50 

Proceeds from operation of salt works 347,794.00 

Proceeds from operation of iron mines 165,481.50 

Amounts confiscated from forest presierves 

and parks 586,305.50 

Profits from operation of water works at 
Seoul, Chemulpo, Pyeng Yang and Chin- 
nampo 370,354.00 

Total $104,782,028.00 

Extraordinary Expenditures by Japan — 

Extension of railroads '. $37,645,123.00 

Capital account lumber undertaking 406,000.00 

Capital account coal mines 627,981.50 

Capital account salt works 582,143.50 

Capital account tramways 1,203,000.00 

Capital account water works 3,472,996.00 

Roads and streets 5,721,999.50 

Bridges 2,650,000.00 

Harbours 4,108,414.50 

Buildings 1,162,572.00 

Land survey 8,331,539.50 

Forestry survey 183,768.50 

Hospitals 474,197.50 

Submarine cable 80,000.00 

$66,649,735.50 

Difference in favor of Korea 38,132,292.50 

* Appendices III to V are taken from " Japanese Stewardship of Korea " 
by P. A. Dolph, of the Illinois Bar, and are used here with the permission 
**Lt^^ author. The data are taken by Mr. Dolph mainly from Japanese 
ofiScial reports. 



APPENDICES 



341 



IV 

INCREASES IN KOREA'S NATIONAL DEBT 
DURING JAPANESE CONTROL 



Total National Debt as reported by Japan up to December 

31, 1917 $46,843,415.00 

National Debt at commencement of Japanese control 368,256.50 

Increase during Japanese control $46,475,158.50 

ITEMS 

Date Creditor Rate Amount 

December 1, 1908 Industrial Bank, Japan 6J^ $6,481,960.00 

March 1,1913 Imperial Treasury, Japan 4 526,325.00 

April 1,1913 Imperial Treasury, Japan 5 15,000,000.00 

October 1, 1914 Deposit Section, Finance Dept., 

Japan 5J4 2,500,000.00 

March 1, 1915 Deposit Section, Finance Dept., 

Japan W2 1,320,435.50 

August 1,1915 Imperial Treasury, Japan W2 1,500,000.00 

August 1, 1915 Bank of Chosen, Korea 6 750,000.00 

October 1, 1915 Imperial Treasury, Japan 5J4 1,250,000.00 

October 1, 1915 Deposit Section, Finance Dept., 

Japan 55^ 155,556.00 

March 1, 1916 Bank of Chosen, Korea 6 3,000,000.00 

March 1, 1916 Imperial Treasury, Japan 5J^ 1,567,163.50 

July 1,1916 Imperial Treasury, Japan 5j4 1,500,000.00 

September 1, 1916 Imperial Treasury, Japan 5^ 2,500,000.00 

March 1,1917 Imperial Treasury, Japan 5^4 1,292,500.00 

December 1,1917 Imperial Treasury, Japan 5^4 7,499,475.00 

Total .$46,843,415.00 

Annual Interest Charge $ 2,522,063.37 



342 APPENDICES 



V 

EXCESS TAXES COLLECTED DURING JAPA- 
NESE CONTROL OF KOREA 

Comparative Statement Between Taxes Collected Dur- 
ing Last Year of Korean Control, $3,561,907.50, and 
Taxes Collected Since Under Japanese Control. 

Total Collected 
Year Under Japanese 

1906 $ 3,699,372.00 

1907 4,951,436.00 

1908 6,144,100.50 

1909 6,747,817.00 

1910 7,393,666.00 

1911 6,595,492.00 

1912 6,842,432.00 

1913 7,642,303.00 

1914 10,101,815.00 

1915 10,575,029.00 

1916 10,731,620.50 

1917 11,416,684.50 

Total $92,841,767.50 

Estimated Total Normal Tax in Korea, Same 
Period, on Basis of Greatest Annual Tax Col- 
lected in Korea Prior to Japanese Occupation. 43,742,890.00 

Excess Collected over normal tax $50,098,877.50 



APPENDICES 343 



VI 



Petition by Viscounts Kim Yun-sik and Yi Yong-chik to 
General Hasegawa, Japanese Governor-General of 
Korea, March 2'/, ipip. 

A way of doing things is good only as it accords with 
the time ; and a government succeeds only when it makes 
its people happy. If the way is not in keeping with the 
age, it is not a perfect way ; and if a government fails to 
make its people happy, it is not a good government. 

It is now ten years since Japan and Korea were uni- 
fied, and though there has resulted from it no little profit 
to the people with the clearing away of abuses, still it 
cannot be said to have made the people happy. 

To-day when the call for independence is given in the 
street, voices without number answer in response. In 
ten days and less the whole nation vibrates with its echo, 
and even the women and children vie with each other 
with no fear of death in their hearts. What is the reason 
for such a state of things as this ? Our view is that hav- 
ing borne with pain and stifled resentment to the point of 
bursting, and being unable to repress it further, at last 
they have found expression, and like the overflowing of 
the Whang-ho River the waves have broken all bounds, 
and once having broken away, its power will brook no 
return. We call this an expression of the people, but is 
it not rather the mind of God Himself? 

There are two ways of treating the conditions to-day, 
one a kind way and one the way of repression. The lib- 
eral way would be to speak kindly, soothe, comfort so as 
to remove fears and misgivings. But in that case there 
would be no end to the demonstrations. The use of 
force, on the other hand, that would cut down, uproot, 
beat to pieces, extinguish, will but rouse it the more and 



344 APPENDICES 

never conquer its spirit. If you do not get at the cause, 
you will never settle the matter. 

The people, now roused to action, desire that restored 
to them that they once possessed, in order that the shame 
of their slavery be removed. They have nothing but bare 
hands, and a tongue with which to speak the resentment 
they feel. You can tell by this that no wicked motive 
underlies their thoughts. 

The good and superior man would pity and forgive 
such as this, and view it with tender sympathy. We hear, 
however, that the government is arresting people right 
and left till they fill the prisons. There they whip, beat, 
and torture them, until they die violent deaths beneath it. 
The government also uses weapons till the dead lie side 
by side, and we are unable to endure the dreadful stories 
we hear. 

Nevertheless, the whole state only rises the more, and 
the greater the force used to put it down, the greater the 
disturbances. How comes it that you look not to 
the cause, but think only to cut the manifestation of it 
down by force? Though you cut down and kill those 
who rise up everywhere, you may change the face of 
things, but the heart of it, never. Every man has written 
in his soul the word Independence, and those who in the 
quiet of their rooms shout for it are beyond the possibility 
of numbering. Will you arrest and kill them all? 

A man's life is not something to be dealt with as the 
grass that grows. In ancient times Mancius said to King 
Sun of Che Kingdom, " If by taking possession of the 
state you can make the people of Yun happy, take pos- 
session ; but if taking possession will render them miser- 
able, forbear to do it." 

Though Mancius spoke, the king paid no attention, and, 
as a result, came to a place where he finally said that he 
was greatly ashamed. This is, indeed, a mirror from his- 
tory worthy to be looked into. Even the sage cannot run 



APPENDICES 345 

counter to the times in which he Hves. We read the 
mind of God in the attitude of the people. If a people 
are not made happy, history tells us that there is no way 
by which their land can be held in possession. 

We, your servants, have come to these times of danger 
and difficulty. Old and shameless are we, for when our 
country was annexed we accepted the rank of nobihty, 
held office, and lived in disgrace, till, seeing these innocent 
people of ours in the fire and water, are unable to endure 
the sight longer. Thus we, too, in privacy have shouted 
for the independence just like the others. 

Fearing not presumption on our part, we speak forth 
our hearts, in the hope that Your Excellency will be in 
accord herewith and let His Imperial Majesty know so 
that the Cabinet may consider it, and set right the cause, 
not by mere soft words, not by force, but in accord with 
the opportunity that Heaven above grants and the wishes 
of the people speak. Thus may Japan give independence 
to Korea and let her justice be known to the whole world 
including those nations with whom she is in treaty rela- 
tion. Undoubtedly, all will grant their approval, and, 
like the eclipsed sun and moon, Japan will once again re- 
sume the light and splendour of her way. Who will not 
look with praise and commendation on this act of yours ? 

We, your servants, behind closed doors, ill and indis- 
posed, and knowing not the mind of the world, offer our 
poor woodmen's counsel to the state. If you accede to it, 
countless numbers of people will be made happy; but if 
you refuse, we two alone will suffer. We have reached 
the bourn of life, and so we offer ourselves as a sacrifice 
for our people. Though we die for it, we have no com- 
plaints to make. In our sick chamber with our age upon 
us, we know not how to speak persuasively. We pray 
Your Excellency to kindly give this your consideration. 
In a word, this is what our hearts would say. 



346 APPENDICES 



VII 

ATROCITY STATISTICS 

AND 

NOTES OF SPECIAL INCIDENTS REPORTED 
BY EYE WITNESSES 

Korean Statistics prom March i, 1919, to March i, 1920. 

Killed , 7,645 

Injured 45,562 

Imprisoned 49,811 

Houses burned '. 724 

Churches burned 59 

Schools burned 3 

Japanese Statistics i^rom March i, 1919, to Jui,y 20, 1919. 

Demonstrations suppressed without incident 341 

Suppressed by force 51 

Suppressed by force and firearms .185 

Total demonstrations suppressed 577 

Casualties: 

Koreans killed 631 

Japanese killed 9 

Koreans wounded and treated at Government hospi- 
tals (no statistics for those otherwise treated) 1,409 

Arrests and Punishments: 

Flogged by order Gendarmes 9,078 

Flogged by order Court 1,514 

Prison sentences 5,156 

Committed to trial 8,993 

Appeals allowed 1,838 

Sentences remitted 282 

Released 7,116 

Total killed, wounded and arrested 36,026 

Property Damage: 

Churches totally destroyed 17 

Churches partially destroyed 24 

Other buildings destroyed 168 



APPENDICES 347 

Presbyterian Church Statistics Reported to its Generai, 
Assembly in October, 1919. Covering Their Membership Only: 

Churches destroyed 13 

Killed by shooting 41 

Beaten to death 6 

Pastors, elders and leaders arrested 336 

Male members arrested ; 2,125 

Adherents arrested 813 

Women arrested 531 

Total arrests 3,804 

Flogged 2,163 

Still in prison 1,643 

NOTES OF SPECIAIv INCIDENTS REPORTED BY 
EYE WITNESSES 

Chronoi,ogicai< 
March i, 19 19: 

At Seoul — Notice posted that gathering would be held at 
Pagoda Park and printed copies of Declaration of Inde- 
pendence distributed. People gathered, shouting "Mansei" 
before public buildings and Consulates, sending in copies 
of Proclamation. No violence done by Koreans, who 
were unarmed. At one point gendarmes charged crowd 
with sabres and inflicted many wounds. Police arrested 
as many as they could. Following day, Sunday, second 
day funeral of Emperor; no pronounced further dem- 
onstration until the 5th. 

March 2, 1919: 

At An-ju — Crowd of 4,000 Koreans gathered, unarmed, 
shouting "Mansei." Seven Japanese general officers came 
out and fired many shots into crowd with rifles — 8 killed 
and 20 wounded. Two of the wounded treated in Sever- 
ance Hospital; student, 19, bullet in left leg; farmer, 61, 
shot in right leg. 

At Pyeng Yang — Group of men and boys charged by 
soldiers with fixed bayonets. Two men on horseback ran 
down one man; man was then attacked by four soldiers, 
stamped on and beaten with gun butts until unconscious 
and was dragged ofif. Four soldiers attacked one young 
fellow, 22, and struck him in the face over and over again 
with gun butts. Thirty soldiers charged group of boys 



348 APPENDICES 

and caught four; one boy, 14, hands were tied and was 
then beaten in the face. Three soldiers met workman 
not in crowd and beat him severely. Two women knocked 
down with gun butts; one was 50 years old, and as she 
limped away, soldiers levelled and fired. Scores of men 
and boys severely beaten. Five theological students, who 
had just arrived, arrested in their rooms; each given 29 
lashes. Two girls dragged by their hair to telegraph 
poles; tied to poles with their hair and severely beaten. 
One old man, 65, beaten until he could not walk; dragged 
to station and beaten unconscious a second time. One 
Korean killed by firemen with hooks, and corpse dragged 
away by hooks. Old men, women and children indis- 
criminately abused and officially flogged at the station. 
Two women beaten, kicked and thrown into ditch. Sol- 
diers fired into crowd of women. Police kept wounded 
from being taken to hospital to prevent record being 
made; however, 11 did get to hospital, who were brought 
in from the surrounding country with gunshot wounds. 

March 3, 1919: 

At Kyumipo — Church badly damaged. Villagers had 
gathered in front of home of an elder. Dispersed by 
police, and police saying, " Christians are responsible for 
this," rushed on to the church; smashed all the glass; broke 
the stove; tore out the bell and set fire to the church, 
starting one fire inside, and one outside. Then proceeded 
to school and smashed all the doors and windows. Three 
Koreans arrested and sent to Pyeng Yang jail. 

At Maingsan — People gathered, mostly Chuntokyo fol- 
lowers. Soldiers appeared and arrested leader, who was 
badly treated; this incensed people who followed to sta- 
tion which was in an inclosure. After 59 Koreans had 
entered gate, it was closed and soldiers then proceeded 
deliberately to shoot them down. Fifty-six killed and three 
escaped. Those not killed by bullets were run through and 
through with bayonets. Bodies piled up and counted and 
when soldiers discovered that three had escaped, set out to 
find them. In the melee one soldier was shot, a Korean 
grabbing a gun from a soldier. Escaped Koreans not 
found, and soldiers then arrested a woman Bible leader 
sent out from Pyeng Yang; she was cruelly treated and 
tortured and told to cease preaching. 



APPENDICES 349 

March 4, 19 19: 

At Morupsil — Crowd attacked by 4 gendarmes. Two 
Koreans killed instantly, 5 died later and 20 wounded. 
Ten of the wounded treated in Mission Hospital; one 
amputation on account of leg being shattered below the 
knee, and one shot through spine losing one vertebra. 

At Ham-heung — Number of students and one teacher 
had been arrested two days preceding. On March 3 stores 
were closed and a crowd was dispersed by Japanese 
firemen with fire lances ; a number injured and ar- 
rested. Crowd again collected on 4th and attacked by 
Japanese fire brigade armed with hooks and lances; many 
seriously injured; one student had violent mark across fore- 
head and left leg hung limp, was detained for several days 
without treatment; another had skull crushed and was re- 
leased in dying condition. Seven Koreans arrested, also a 
number of girls, and taken to station in pitiful condition. 

March 5, 1919: 

At Sunan-ub — Gendarmes fired into crowd killing 5 and 
wounding many others; wounded thrown into prison with- 
out food, water or treatment, and many deaths from 
gangrene. Old man protested at this treatment of prison- 
ers. Shot dead. His wife came to recover body and was 
killed. I^ater, daughter came and was driven away, re- 
ceiving severe sword cuts. 

At Seoul — Promptly at nine o'clock demonstration 
started. Shops closed. Street Railway employees stopped 
work. Literati prepared petition to Governor General; on 
presentation at his office, were told to present at police 
station, and being there presented, the messengers were 
arrested. Demonstration a surprise to police and had pro- 
ceeded for nearly half a mile before it was opposed. The 
crowd was charged with sabres. No respect shown for 
sex. Hundreds arrested. Red Cross nurses rushed out 
with bandages to attend wounded. They were detained 
in police station to prevent their assisting the wounded 
and not released until late afternoon. 

March 6, 1919: 

At Ham-heung — Stores still closed and outbreak of the 
4th started again. Japanese fire brigade again rushed the 
crowd. Number clubbed and wounded. One taken to 



350 APPENDICES 

station in dying condition and released to prevent record 
being made of his death. 

March 7, 19 19: 

At Pan-suk — Soldiers came and pulled over the church 
tower, broke the panes of glass and destroyed the Bibles. 
Arrested 5 men and women and stripping them of all 
clothing beat them with clubs and guns. House of school 
teacher broken into. One man beaten until he died. 
Police being unable to find one of the elders of the church, 
his wife and two-year-old baby were seized; woman was 
stripped naked, and she and the baby beaten to compel 
woman to tell where her husband was. Many arrests made. 

March 8, 19 19: 

At Kang-kei — Is a mountain village where several hun- 
dred gathered. Police without warning opened fire, killing 
4 and wounding 8. Later, as police were leaving they saw 
two women at the river washing and fired at them; one 
woman hit in the head, but the other was missed. 

At Sing-chang — Soldiers destroyed the church bell, and 
the wife of the Methodist minister, who was enceinte, was 
attacked and beaten; cannot recover. 

March 10, 1919: 

At Soon-an — Crowd gathered and was rushed by sol- 
diers. Only Christians were arrested. One elder given 
100 blows. One teacher arrested and cut eight times with 
bayonets. 

From Pyeng Yang the following churches reported 
wrecked and destroyed — M. E. and Presbyterian at 
Chinnampo; Presbyterian churches at Kyomipo, Pansyok, 
Nichon, Namsanmoru, Tateiryung. At Mirim the elders 
were arrested and given 29 lashes; at Choongwha the 
deacons were arrested and given 15 lashes. On Saturday 
the 8th, two divisions of prisoners passed through the 
mission compound; the first had IS men and the second 
had 88; were all from Syunchun, a strong Chuntokyo 
center, about 47 miles from Pyeng Yang. 

March 12, 1919: 

At Pai-paik — Teacher of Christian school arrested after 
having been wounded with bayonets. In melee soldiers 
shot into crowd killing 5 and injuring many others. 



APPENDICES 351 

March 13, 1919: 

At Sing-hung — On market day police fired into crowd, 
killing 4 and wounding 4; one of the killed was woman 
carrying a jar of water on her head. 

March 15, 1919: 

At Sunk-dok, near Ham-heung — Police charged crowd, 
killing 4 Koreans. 

March 16, 1919: 

At Tukum — Crowd of 500 fired into by gendarmes. One 
killed and 8 wounded. 

March 18, 1919: 

At On-chang market — 600 gathered, shouting " Mansei." 
Clubbed by gendarmes and then fired upon; 3 killed and 
20 wounded. Kim Kwang Un, 72, shot in shoulder. Tried 
to get to Seoul hospital, but was arrested at Chinnampo, 
tied, beaten and then released; same occurred at Chai- 
kyung-ub, but he finally reached Severance Hospital; three 
others also reached the hospital; one man, 21, shot in face 
and bullet extracted from upper jaw bone; another died 
in few hours, and the third, an aged man, beaten with 
clubs, died the second day. 

March 22, 19 19: 

Inside little east gate, Seoul — Several hundred gathered; 
were fired on by soldiers; several killed, and many 
wounded. One man reached Severance Hospital with gun- 
shot in eye; eye destroyed. 

At Seoul — Large demonstration. Quickly suppressed 
and many arrests made. 

March 23, 1919: 

At Seoul — Organized demonstration simultaneously in 
all parts of city. Bayonets were freely used and many 
•jyounded. Number killed. 

At Ryung-sungi-li — Crowd of men and boys charged by 
soldiers. Song Yong, a boy of 16, fell behind, was wounded 
in hand by bayonet; while sitting holding his injured hand, 
second soldier came up and thrust him in the stomach 
with his bayonet. 

At Whang-hai-do — Crowd of several hundred attacked 
by gendarmes with clubs, swords and rifles. Three killed 



352 APPENDICES 

and 20 wounded. Man of 25 with tullet wound in leg 
treated at Severance Hospital. 

March 27, 1919: 

At Dok-san — 300 gathered shouting and waving Korean 
flags; attacked by 15 gendarmes; later reenforced from 
Seoul by motor cars. Shot into crowd; killed 1 and 
wounded 15. Those treated at Severance were: man 23, 
shot in foot; man 27, shot in leg; man 35, shot in arm 
and side; man 21, shot through lip; man 35, terribly 
wounded in body, leg smashed; 1 unknown, unconstious, 
shot in head. 

At Horin-mal — All ordered to meet in church, the bell 
being rung. Twenty-six of those who responded were 
arrested; 6 released and 20 imprisoned; later sentenced to 
90 strokes. 

At Andong — Large body of young men gathered and 
were dispersed by police. One man attacked by policeman 
with sword and literally cut to pieces, receiving 20 cuts; 
died at hospital. 

March 28, 19 19: 

At Morak — Number of people assembled; 3 police fired 
into crowd, killing and wounding several. Enraged crowd, 
and they killed police. Gendarmes arrived, firing into 
crowd. Two sons of an elder killed. Elder Cha shot 
through the arm; one deacon shot through the shoulder, 
and another through the leg; treated at Hall Memorial 
Hospital in Pyeng Yang. Elder Cha's brother thrust 
through the back with bayonet and killed. Elder Cha's 
house visited; his wife beaten; library and all church rec- 
ords burned. 

At Kwang-ju-eup — 600 assembled. Gendarmes fired, 
killing 3 and wounding a number of others. One farmer, 
34, treated at hospital; jaw bone shot away. 

In Pai-ju — 65 li from Seoul, 1,000 gathered to shout 
" Mansei." Attacked by gendarmes who followed crowd 
shooting as they ran; 8 killed and 3 wounded. 

At Ko-yang-koon — 5,000 gathered; attacked by mounted 
police, gendarmes in uniform and in civilian clothes; many 
killed and wounded; number not reported by eye-witness. 
Man, 54, struck on arm with sword scabbard and severely 
beaten; was treated at Severance. 



APPENDICES 353 

At Ko-sang—- Shops had closed and were ordered opened; 
about 70 Koreans had gathered. Gendarmes fired into 
crowd. One man, 26, with gunshot wound in left arm, 
treated at Severance. 

At Kang-ung — Market day; 1,000 gathered, shouting and 
unarmed; gendarmes fired into crowd, killing 4 and 
wounding 4; one treated at Severance with bullet in 
shoulder. 

March 30, 19 19: 

At Seoul — Japanese police report 38 instances of gen- 
darmes firing into crowds, with 9 police killed, and 361 
Koreans killed and 860 wounded. Koreans' table shows 
over 600 killed in Seoul during March. 

At Tong Chaing — On market day; demonstration. Police 
arrested 17, five of them women. Women were stripped 
naked and beaten with clubs; were then forced to stand 
before the Japanese officers, while officers had their tea 
and made fun of them. 

At Kyen Syo — While people were at Sunday School 
and about 35 were praying, soldiers entered the church; 
jammed their guns through the windows; beat the leader 
and went away with 4 men and 3 women prisoners. 

April 2, 19 19: 

At Tong Chaing — Body of miners came from neighbour- 
ing mine to resent treatment of women on the 30th, saying 
they could not allow such savages to go unpunished. Two 
of them were shot and one man wounded. 

April 6, 1919: 

At Suchon — Soldiers appeared and fired the village. This 
is the 15th village reported destroyed by soldiers. 

April 8, 1919: 

At Kang-kei — Small mountain town, demonstration 
started; 2 killed and 12 wounded. 

April II, 1919: 

At Wha-su-ri — Village burned; many wounded and in- 
jured by Japanese police and soldiers. 

April 15, 1919: 

At Do-chu-ni — Soldiers entered the village; killed six 
sons and grandsons in one family; covered the bodies with 



354 APPENDICES 

straw and set fire to them. Old man of 76 left to mourn 
his sons. 

At Chai-amm-ni — Japanese soldiers entered the village; 
ordered the inhabitants to enter the church. After they 
had done so, soldiers fired into the church, and after most 
of Koreans had been killed, the church was set fire to. 
Six bodies found bayoneted outside the church where 
they had attempted to escape. Two women murdered; one 
bayoneted and the other shot. Then the whole village 
was burned. 

We find that we must close this diary of horror with 
the incident of the Chai-amm-ni Massacre. It could be 
continued, with daily occurrences, through all of the 
two years that have now passed since March i, 1919, 
when Korea asserted its restored independence, but it 
would extend this appendix beyond all reasonable limits. 
The reader may judge what might be added by what has 
been recorded, but to show that these atrocities continue, 
we also cite a few of- the more recent events. 

The reign of terror is carried on by the Japanese 
soldiers, not only in Korea, but also among the Korean 
settlements in far-off Manchuria, where there are few 
foreign eyes to observe and record the deeds. The 
Korean residents of Manchuria, like their brethren every- 
where in the world, gave their moral support and financial 
aid to the Independence Movement. As a result, whole- 
sale massacres, burning of villages and devastation of 
fields by Japanese soldiers became the order of the day. 
Dr. S. H. Martin, a Canadian medical missionary at 
Yong Jung, South Manchuria, visited one of these ill- 
fated villages, Norabawie, on October 31, 1920, two days 
after its destruction at the hand of Japanese soldiers. 
The following is a part of the report of the massacre, 
submitted by Dr. Martin to the Canadian Presbyterian 
Board of Foreign Missions at Toronto : 

At daybreak, October 29, Japanese infantry surrounded the 
main Christian village, and starting at the head of the valley. 



APPENDICES 355 

burned immense stacks of unthreshed millet, barley and straw, 
and then ordered the people to vacate their homes. 

As each son and father stepped forth he was shot, and 
though perhaps not dead, heaps of burning straw were placed 
over them. If they struggled to escape the flames, they 
were bayoneted. The Japanese soldiers then set fire to the 
houses. . . . 

I have names of, and accurate reports of, thirty-two villages 
where fire and willful murder were used — in one village the 
dead numbering 145. I saw the ruins of a house which was 
burned with women and children inside. At Sonoyung four 
men were stood up near an open grave and shot. Foreigners 
are not permitted to travel here, as the Japanese officers are 
unable to guarantee their safety. 

Another Canadian missionary, the Rev. W. R. Foote, 

says in his report : 

At Nam Koa-u — October 19, leader's house and school 
burnt and the church''set on fire, but not seriously damaged. 

At Kusei Tong — October 19, Christian's house burnt. 

At 01 To Kuo — October S6, four houses of Christians burnt. 

At Myung Dong — October 26, a fine brick schoolhouse nearly 
one hundred feet long burnt, also an elder's house. 

At Nopei — October 26, the church (seating 30 people) and 
school burnt. 

At Kan Chang Am — October 30, church, school and nine 
houses burnt. Twenty-five people shot and the bodies burnt. 

All these instances are absolutely authentic. Five people 
(four missionaries and one customs official) investigated 
conditions on two different days, spending some time with 
the people. 

At Cheng San — The church and school and a few houses 
burnt; 30 people killed, 23 of them shot and seven burned 
to death in their own houses. 

At Un Tong Ja — Church and school burnt and 80 people 
shot. 

These are all Christian villages. 

The soldiers and a commanding officer who go to these 
places as a general thing have no conversation whatever with 
the people, but do their diabolical deeds and pass on. 

For instance, at Nopei the soldiers were passing through 



356 APPENDICES 

when they came opposite a church, and the officer, who was 
mounted, halted his men just long enough to set fire to the 
church and school and then pass on. 

Ku Sei Tong is the only place where any reason was given 
to the people at all for the action. A Korean accompanied 
the soldiers and told the people that the officer said he had 
evidence that the owner of the house had collected money 
for Korean patriotic purposes. If only offenders suffered 
even the Koreans would not seriously object; but it is 
where the perfectly innocent and helpless are done to death 
without even an opportunity to say a word on their own 
behalf that the injustice and hardship appear. At Kan 
Chang Am there are poor women left at the approach 
of a cold winter without a thing to support themselves and 
their children. The men of the family were shot; the houses 
and all the contents were burned; and the crops which had 
been gathered and stored about their houses were burned 
too. Some of the women and children are even shoeless. 
The soldiers entered the village soon after sunrise, bringing 
with them six men from a neighbouring village. These and 
the young men of Kan Chang Am were herded in front of a 
Korean house and without even a form of examination were 
shot down. From one house were a father and a son. From 
another, two brothers and a son, 25 in all. Then their 
bodies were heaped together in two piles, covered with wood, 
and burned. While the fuel was being placed on them, some 
of the wounded were still able to rise, but they were 
bayoneted to the ground and met their fate in the flames. 

I know these people well. They lived in an out-of-the-way 
glen. The land is not fertile and firewood is very scarce. 
They were a quiet, hard-working people, kind-hearted, who 
struggled hard to make a living. Their church and school, 
their Bible and hymn books, their Sunday worship and above 
all, their Saviour, were their joy. 

Miss Emma M. Palethorpe of Ontario, a member of 
the Canadian Presbyterian mission at Yong Jung, tells in 
her statement of the execution of five men from the 
village of Suchilgo who were led by the Japanese soldiers 
to the top of a hill about three miles from Yong Jung 
and there put to death. Writes Miss Palethorpe: 



APPENDICES 357 

In the top of the hill there is quite a large hollow not 
visible from the road or village. The victims were made to 
sit at the bottom of this where they were slashed at with 
swords. It is reported by an eye-witness that two swords 
were broken, and then the awful work was finished with 
bayonets. Then the loose earth was pulled down from the 
sides of the hollow to cover the mutilated bodies. 

One of the latest Associated Press dispatches (Decem- 
ber II, 1920), reports 375 Koreans executed virithout 
trial near Chientoa, 1,500 arrested, 2 churches and 5 
schools destroyed. A previous dispatch (December 8, 
1920), had reported 70 houses in one village and 130 in 
another destroyed. 

A still later dispatch (December 14, 1920), sent by 
Junius B. Wood, the Far Eastern correspondent of the 
Chicago Daily News,' who has visited the Chientoa dis- 
trict, states: 

According to the figures furnished me at the headquarters 
of the 19th Japanese division, 375 Koreans were killed and 
193 homes were burned during the Japanese operations in 
southeastern Manchuria. 

Governor Tao, head of eight prefectures, including Chientoa 
and Hunchun, told me a few days earlier that his incomplete 
reports from four prefectures showed that 800 Koreans had 
been killed and 300 homes with harvested crops and live 
stock had been burned. 

Reports of the Canadian Presbyterian missionaries, cover- 
ing a portion of the same territory, but without official ma- 
chinery or other facilities to enable them to reach isolated 
villages and hamlets connected merely by rough mountain 
paths, indicated that even the figures of the Chinese Governor 
were conservative. 

In a dispatch immediately succeeding the above (De- 
cember 15, 1920), Mr. Wood gives definite instances: 

In the Changsan district, including several scattered vil- 
lages, 130 houses and several churches and schools were 



358 APPENDICES 

burned and 90 persons were shot, according to reports. Among 
these places was a non-Christian village of thirty houses, with 
seventy persons. It was entirely destroyed. One entire 
family, hiding in a potato pit under a house, were suffo- 
cated. . . . 

In Tutogo, where a Japanese vice-consul is located, the 
bodies of six executed men lay outside the village until dogs 
started to eat them. Then permission for their burial was 
finally given. . . . 

In Najakoa valley, 100 miles north of Lunghingthun, 500 
out of 1,000 homes were burned and 600 persons were exe- 
cuted. In some instances the bodies were hacked into frag- 
ments and piled in heaps, so that the remains could not be 
identified by the survivors. . . . 

Out of 120 churches and schools owned by Koreans under 
Canadian Presbyterian supervision, -about 20 were destroyed. 
. . . All of the three Korean owned middle schools in the 
Chientoa and Hunchun districts were destroyed. Mungdong 
Academy, a brick building worth 10,000 yen ($5,000), was 
burned. . . . The Chungon Academy was sacked and the 
maps, charts, laboratory apparatus and books were destroyed. 
The equipment was worth several thousand dollars. The 
teachers in this school were educated abroad. Whango 
Academy, in the Hunchun district, was burned. 



Index 



Abdication of Emperor Yi, 58 

Administrative policy and per- 
sonnel of Japanese Oflfi- 
cials — militaristic, 61 

American part in Korean de- 
velopment, prior to Jap- 
anese control, 39 

Ancient History of Korea, 33 

Area and geographic data of 
Korea, 25 

Armstrong, Rev. A. E. — de- 
struction of Churches and 
Mission Schools, 169-170 
Statement as to Independ- 
ence Movement, 208-209 
Atrocities in Chientao and 
Korea, 228-230 

Assassination of the Queen by 
order of Japanese Minister, 
45 
Attempted justification of 
murder by Masujima, 46-47 
Details of Trial of Japanese 
Minister for assassination, 
322 

Assassination of Emperor Yi, 

193 

Assimilation — Japanese Policy 
of — submit or perish, 62 

Associated Press — Massacres 
continue (Nov. 9, 1920), 
276 

Atrocities — by Japanese — flog- 
ging — practice, incidents 
and statistics, 74-82 
Indignities to women and 

girls, 92 
Prison congestion and filth, 
100 



Prisoners frozen to death, 
103 

During passive demonstra- 
tions, 2x6 

In Manchuria, 229-230, 318- 
319 

Japanese statistics on, 316 

Statistics (Appendix VII), 
346 

Statistics (Recent Massacres 
in Manchuria), 354 

Bishop, Mrs. Isabeli^a Bird— 
quotation from Korea and 
Her Neighbors (Societies 
in Korea), 36-37 
Brown, Rev. A. J. — develop- 
ment of industrial arts, 
35-36 
Social evils, 150-151 
Opium, 153-154 

Candi,er, Bishop Warren A. — 
quotation from Hun of the 
Orient — reforms a myth, 
283-284 

Censorship of Korean publica- 
tions, 126, 274-275 

Chai-amm-ni — atrocities in, 233 

Chientao District — Japanese 
atrocities in, 318-319 

Christian Advocate — quotation 
from Korean Independence 
Movement of igig (Judi- 
cial system), 72-73 

■Christianitj' in Korea, 32 
Persecution of Church by 
Japanese, 160 



359 



360 



INDEX 



" Conspiracy Case," 163-164 
Statistics on persecutions, 

171 
Indignities to missionaries, 

173 
Church — ^persecutions of, 159, 

171-172 
Clement, Ernest W., on social 

evils, 146 
Climate of Korea, 27 
Congressional Record quoted— 
Japanese ancient raids of 

Korea, 41 
Korean alliance with Japan 

against Russia, 49 
Summary judgments — Con- 
victions without trial, 71 
Indignities to women by Jap- 
anese, 94 
Freedom of speech denied. 

Discrimination in schools, 

^ 133-135 

False statements of Japanese 
press, 241 
Convictions without trial — sum- 
mary judgment statistics, 

71 
Cook, Rev. W. T., on Korean 

emigration into Manchuria, 

115-117 
Courts — Japanese judges and 

clerks, 63 
Different code for Koreans, 

63 

Habeas corpus unknown, 64 
Defendant unable to call wit- 
nesses, 65 
Police given judicial powers, 

66 
Search without warrant, 67 
Prisoner presumed guilty, 68 
Right of counsel denied, 69 
Collusion between police and 

courts, 70 
Convictions without trial, 
totals for years 1913 to 
1917, inclusive, 71 
Torture during preliminary 
examinations, 72 



Cynn, Hugh H., quotations 

from Rebirth of Korea: 

Freedom of speech denied, 

129 
Schools for Koreans, 135-136 
Diplomas denied Koreans, 
141-142 

Demonstrations for Independ- 
ence, 209 

Participation of Literati and 
all classes, 210 

Petition of Viscounts Kim 
and Yi to Hasegawa, 343 

Strikes by merchants and 
labourers, 209 
Dennett, Tyler — quotation from 
Road to Peace, via China, 

Diplomatic Relations between 
Korea and Japan, 41 

Economic Exploitation, 107 

Fraudulent land seizures, 
114-115 

Currency reforms — ^worthless 
money — no reserve, 117 

Japanese stewards for Ko- 
rean families, 119 

Japanese merchants given 
preferences, 120 

Balance sheet between Ko- 
rea and Japan, 340 

Increases in Korean. National 
Debt by Japan, 341 

Excess Taxes collected by 
Japan in Korea, 342 
Educational System — W. E. 
Griffis quoted, 37 

Historical records burned, 
125-126 

Restrictions on Korean pub- 
lications, 127 

Instances of Japanese cen- 
sorship, 128 

Suppression of freedom of 
speech, 129 

Statistics on schools for Ko- 
reans and Japanese, 133- 
134 



INDEX 



361 



Instruction in Japanese re- 
quired, 135 

Employment of Japanese 
teachers required, 136 

"Japanized" curriculum and 
Mikado worship in schools, 
138 
Ellis, William T.— ^luotations 
from Christianity's Fiery 
Trial in Korea — Parson 
Kil charged with treason, 

156 .... 

Persecution of missionaries, 

178 
Emmons, C, V. — quotation 
from The Jap Hun — Read 
his Record, 99 
Emperor Yi — 
Abdication forced by Jap- 
anese, 58 
Assassination, 193 
Ethnology of Korea — By Prof. 
Keane, 28 
By Prof. Hulbert, 29 
By the Rev. J. S. Gale, 30-31 
Korean and Japanese char- 
acters contrasted, 285 

Federai, CouNcn, op Churches 
— quotations from pam- 
phlet, Korean Situation, is- 
sued by, participation of 
Koreans in their own gov- 
ernment denied, 63 
Schools, 133-135 
Atrocities, 218-220 

Fisher, Galen W. — on Jap- 
anese social evils — practice 
among teachers and princi- 
pals of schools, 146-147 

Flogging — practice — statistics 
and incidents, 74 

Gale, Rev. James S. — ethnology 
and history of Korea, 31 
Modesty of Korean women, 

157 
Geography and history of Ko- 
rea, 25 



Giles, William R. — Independ- 
ence movement and atroc- 
ities, 225 

Massacres in Southern Ko- 
rea, 232 
Greenbie, Sidney — Land seiz- 
ures, 115 

Japanese stewards in Korean 
families, 121 

Japanese versions of Korean 
geography and history, 137 

Independence movement, 204 
Griffis, William Elliot — educa- 
tional system, 37 

Japanese methods of cover- 
ing abuses by official re- 
ports, 244-245 

Japan's Debt to Korea, 137- 
138 



Hague Conference — Attempt 
of Koreans to send envoys 
to, 57 ^ 

Hersman, Congressman Hugh 
S., incident at Seoul Y. M. 
C. A. meeting, 261 

Hirst, Dr. J. W.— as to Sever- 
ance Hospital patients, loi 

History of Korea, 32 

Hulbert, Prof. Homer B.— 
ethnology of Koreans, 29 
Statement printed in Con- 
gressional Record, 41 

Hull, Peggy — on modesty of 
Korean women, 99-100 

Hunt, Frazier — quotation from 
All Korea in Revolt, 309- 
312 



Independence Movement, 187 
Murder of Emperor Yi, 193 
Forces operating at confer- 
ence for independence, 196 
Signers of declaration, 197, 

203 
Declaration of independence, 
199 



362 



im)BX 



Secrecy of Movement, 206 

Passive character of demon- 
strations, 209 

Participation of Literati and 
all classes, 210 

Independence nev\rspaper, 215 
Independence and political in- 
tegrity of Korea recog- 
nized by Foreign Powers, 

39 

By China and Japan, Treaty 
of Shimonoseki, 1895, 43 

By Russia and Japan, Treaty 
of 1898, 48 

By Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 
1902, 48 

By Japan in Rescript of War 
against Russia, 1904, 48 

By Japan in Treaty with Ko- 
rea, February 23, 1904, 49 

By Treaty with United States 
in 1882, 328 

By Treaties with European 
Powers, 338 

By Japan in numerous trea- 
ties listed, 339 
Indignities to women and girls 
— prisons and prison tor- 
tures, 92 
Industrial Arts — development 
of fundamentals in Korea, 
28 

Writing — Metal type — Print- 
ing — Mariner's Compass — 
Astronomical instruments 
— Weaving — Silk culture — 
Leather harness — Ore 
smelting — Pottery — Money 
as medium of exchange — 
Fortifications — Bomb shells 
— Iron clads — Porcelain, 
35-36 
International Postal Union — 
Korea admitted in 1898, 40 
International question — Korean 
question considered from 
purely legal standpoint, 
59-60 

Japan Advertiser — quotation on 



Independence Movement, 
227 
Japan Chronicle — quotation on 
violation of Korean women 
by Gendarmerie of Japan, 
67 
Japanese Propaganda — edi- 
torial atrocity, 226-227 
" Speaking officially," 241 
Opening private letters, 242 
Control of postal system, 242 
Press Bureaus and Press 

Agents, 250 
As to missionary participa- 
tion in movement for Inde- 
pendence, 179 
Jones, Dr. George H. — quota- 
tion on racial distinctions, 
132 

KeanE, a. H. — quotation on 

racial distinctions, 28 
Korea — geography, 25 
Korean Conspiracy Case, 164 
Korean Courage — quoted from 

British Observer, 288 
Korean Historical Commission 
— from reports of Japanese 
invasions of Korea, 42 
Suppression of publications, 
128 

Land seizures, 112 

Lodge, Hon. Henry Cabot — 
" Vital omission in all Jap- 
anese Promises is — time," 
283 ^ 

Longford, J. H. — quoted from 
Bvohition of Nezv Japan, 

43 
Lyuh, W. H.— in Japan, 313 

Manchuria — Korean emigra- 
tion into, I 157 I 17 
Japanese atrocities against 
Koreans in, 229-230, 318- 

319 
Martin, Dr. S. H.— statement 
as to villages destroyed, 
276 



INDEX 



363 



Massacres, 231-237, 276, 354 
Maungsan — atrocities in, 231 
McClatchy, V. S.— on Jap- 
anese propaganda, 250 
On independence movement, 

199 
McCormick, Elsie — on Korean 
conditions and Japanese at- 
tempts to cover, 248-249 
Observations in Korea, 307- 

309 

On Japanese educational sys- 
tem in Korea, 143-144 
MacKenzie, F. A. — quotations 
from Tragedy of Korea: 

Opium, 151-152 

Persecution of Missionaries, 

173-175 
Korean Courage, 188 

Missionary Review — quoted on 
social evils, 146 

Miura, Viscoimt — Japanese 
Minister, trial for murder 
of Queen, 46 
Text of proceedings, 322 

Moffett, Dr. Samuel A., 180 

Mowry case — American ar- 
rested for harbouring Ko- 
reans, 183-184 

NaTionai, Debt of Korea in- 
creased under Japanese, 
io6 
Details, 341 

Newspapers in Korea sup- 
pressed, 126 

New York Times Current His- 
tory — on murder of Queen, 

45 

New York Tribune — on Ko- 
reans in Manchuria and 
Siberia, 189-190 

Norris, Hon. George W. — 
Speech in U. S. Senate, 71 

Open door inaugurated in Ko- 
rea — treaties with other 
nations, 38 

Osborne, Hon. Henry Z. — 



Speech in U. S. House of 
Representatives, 263-264 

Pacific Commercial Advertiser 
— on Japanese propaganda 
to prevent investigations by 
Congressional Party, 259- 
260 

Passive Demonstrations, 214 

Peffer, Nathaniel — on Japanese 
officials in Korea, 64 
On prisons and prison tor- 
tures, 87 
Destruction of Korean His- 
tory, 126 
Suppression of Korean So- 
cieties, 128 
No freedom of speech, 129- 

130 
Japanese petty control of 

schools, 140 
Independence newspaper, 215 
Japanese idea of reform, 

281-282 
Present situation in Korea, 
302-307 

Philadelphia Ledger — on par- 
ticipation of Japanese fire- 
men to suppress passive 
demonstrations, 217 

Pieters, Rev.Albertus — on mas- 
sacres, 238-240 

Pinson, Dr. W. W. — Comment 
on Korean " Conspiracy 
Case," 162-163 

Population of Korea, 31-32 

Porter, Hon. Stephen G. 
(Chairman Foreign Affairs 
Committee, House), speech 
quoted, 263-264 

Postal system — control of mails 
and opening of private 
letters, 242 
Korea admitted to Interna- 
tional Postal Union, 40 

Preliminary Examinations — 
tortures during, 72, 86 

Presbyterian Missionary — quo- 
tation from letter of, loi- 
105 



364 



INDEX 



Presbyterian Mission Reports — 

on Korean emigration to 

Manchuria, 116-117 
Persecutions of the Church, 

171-172 
Prisons and Prison Tortures — 

practice — incidents, 87 
Indignities to women and 

girls, 92 
Fihh and congestion, loo- 

102 
Productions of Korea, 27 
Protectorate forced on Korea 

by Japan, 51 
Provisional Government — Con- 
stitution adopted and OfiEi- 

cials elected, 211 
Publications — Censorship of 

Korean, 126, 274-275 

Queen, Assassination of, 45-47 

Racial distinctions (See eth- 
nology), 28 
Railroads in Korea, 40 
Reforms in Korea — Military 
and Civil Party in Japan — 
Public orders — Secret in- 
structions, 256 
Japan's Alleged Reforms, 266 
Change of name of " Mili- 
tary " to " Civil," 269 
Official orders, 270-271 
Honoraria for criminal of- 
ficials, 279 
Religions of Korea, 32 
Rhee, Dr. Syngman — President 
of Provisional Govern- 
ment, 211-212 

ScHOPiELD, Dr. Frank W. — on 

flogging and atrocities, 75 

Destruction of historical 

books, 125-126 
On social evils, 149 
Schools (See Educational sys- 
tem), 131 
Scott, Mrs. Robertson — on in- 
dependence movement and 



Japanese atrocities, 224- 

225 
Signers of Declaration of In- 
dependence, 197, 203 
Social Evils — introduced and 

encouraged by Japanese, 

145 
Korea flooded with licensed 

women, 148 
Dr. Schofield's statistics — 

relative morality, 149 
Opium evil fostered, 151 
Son Byung Hi, 198 
Spy system of Japanese, 206- 

208 
Suchon — atrocities in, 235 
Summary Judgments — (See 

Courts) statistics, 71 
Suwon District — atrocities in, 

232 

Taxes increased under Japan, 
106 
Details, 342 

Tisdale, Alice — quotation from 
A Korean Highroad, 109 

Third Degree — Japanized — ^pre- 
liminary examinations, 86 

Thomas, Rev. John — Case of 
attack on — Japanese policy 
as to British citizens, 185- 
186 

Thwing, Rev. Edward W. — on 
opium traffic, 152-153 
On independence demonstra- 
tions, 220-222 

U. S. CONGRESSIONAI. PaRTY — 

Visit to Korea — Japanese 
Suppression of Facts, 257 
Congressman Hersman inci- 
dent at Seoul, 261-262 
Underwood, Horace G. — quo- 
tation from Call of Korea, 
132 

Washington Post — Massacres 
continue (Nov. 30, 1920), 
276 

Weale, Putnam — Quotation 



INDEX 



365 



from Forces Behind Japan's 
Imperialism, 115 
Welch, Bishop Herbert — on 
prisons in Korea, loi 

On relation between mission- 
aries and independence 
movement, 178-179 

On Japanese judicial system, 
72-7Z 
Weyl, Walter E. — on Japanese 
educational system in Ko- 
rea, 139 

On Japanese Policy in Korea, 
244 



Wha-su-ri — atrocities in, 237 
Willoughby, Prof. W. W.— 
quotation from Japan and 
Korea, 50-51 
On Japanese seizure of Ko- 
rea, 59 
On prosecution of mission- 
aries, 186 



Y. M. C. A. Reports— Quota- 
tion from Japanese Young 
Men in War and Peace, 
146 



Printed in the United States of America 



Von9 Jutig 
X 



tAvM«n 







Fuiaa«Mn 



Protestant Mission Stations in Korea (Including Two in 
Manchuria Where the Work is Carried on Among 
Koreans). 



366 




il Prmcipal Ci'i/es 
CGnjCts 



Map of Korea Indicating the Centers of the National Movement 
for Independence. The Number of Demonstrations far Ex- 
ceeds the Number of Areas Represented on This Map. 

367 



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